LIBRARY 

<TY  or 

SNIA 

SAN  OfEGO 


presented  to  the 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  •  SAN  DIEGO 
by 

FRIENDS  OF  THE  LIBRARY 

MR.   JOHN  C.   ROSE 

donor 


STORIES  FROM  THE 
OLD  FRENCH  CHRONICLES 


STORIES  FROM 
THE  OLD  FRENCH 
CHRONICLES 

Retold  in  Modern  English  by 

ROBERT    D.    BENEDICT 


BOSTON:  RICHARD  G.  BADGER 
THE   GORHAM  PRESS,  MCMXI 


Copyright  1911  by  Richard  G.  Badger 
All  Rights  Reserved 


The  Gorham  Press,  Boston.  U.S.  A. 


PREFACE 


TIME  to  read  as  much  as  I  would  like  having 
been  given  to  me  in  later  years,  I  took  up 
several  of  the  French  Chroniclers  who  have 
told  of  events  in  France  in  the  14th  to  the 
17th  centuries,  from  the  day  of  King  Charles  IV  and 
Du  Guesclin  to  that  of  Louis  XIV  and  De  Pontis. 
Some  of  these  chroniclers  wrote  biographies,  some 
autobiographies,  some  histories,  some  journals.  I 
found  in  them  many  episodes,  interesting  or  amusing, 
whose  full  details  perhaps  made  them  inappropriate 
for  the  pages  of  the  historian.  Of  these  I  have 
selected  for  translation  the  seventeen  which  follow, 
— I  have  thought  they  would  not  only  be  interesting 
as  stories,  but  as  giving,  to  those  who  read  them, 
views  of  the  life  and  manners  of  the  camp  and  court 
of  the  time,  given  at  first  hand  by  writers,  who  took 
part  in,  or  had  personal  knowledge  of  the  events. 
And  that  a  story  teller  can  say,  "All  this  I  knew 
and  part  of  this  I  was, "  always  gives  to  his  tale  an 
added  interest. 

I  have  not  changed  or  made  addition,   except 
5 


Preface 

where  it  was  necessary  to  do  so,  to  make  the  tale 
intelligible.  I  have  made  the  translations  as  simple  as 
I  could,  in  order  to  give  to  the  reader  not  only  the 
story,  but  also,  as  far  as  mere  translation  can  give 
it,  an  idea  of  the  style  and  therefore  of  the  story- 
teller, for  "the  style  is  the  man." 

I  hope  those,  who  read  the  stories,  may  find  them 
as  interesting  as  they  have  been  to  me,  remembering 
that  what  they  are  reading  is  not  a  work  of  imagina- 
tion, but  a  narrative  of  actual  fact. 

R.  D.  B. 


CONTENTS 


I.  THE  SIEGE  OF  RENNES,  OR  How  THE  DUKE 

WAS  ENABLED  TO  KEEP  His  OATH 11 

From  the  "  Chronicle  of  Sire  Bertrand 
du  Guesclin, " 

II.  THE  DOG  DID  IT 25 

From  the  "Chronicles  of  Jean  Juvenal 
des  Ursins." 

III.  LA  HIRE'S  PRAYER 36 

From  the  "  Chronicle  of  the  Maid. " 

IV.  A  CONSPIRACY  AND  AN  AMBUSCADE 39 

From  the    "Memoirs  of  Marshal  de 
Vieilleville. " 

V.  BAYARD'S  FIRST  TOURNAMENT,  OR  THE 

ABBE  's  OVERSIGHT 57 

From  the   "Chronicle  of  the  Loyal 
Servant. " 

VI.  THE  CHIVALRY  OF  CHEVALIER  BAYARD  ...     69 

From  the  "  Chronicle  of  the  Loyal  Ser- 
vant. " 

VII.  SMALL  THINGS  SHOW  CHARACTER 81 

VIII.  DE  PONTIS 83 

IX.  A  DIVINATION  OF  NOSTRADAMUS 87 

From  the  "Memoirs  of  the  Sieur  de 
Pontis." 

7 


Contents 

X.  A  NIGHT  WATCH 91 

From  the  "Memoirs  of  the  Sieur  de 
Pontis. " 

XI.  A  MEETING  OF  FRIENDS 97 

From  the  ''Memoirs  of  the  Sieur  de 
Pontis. " 

XII.  A  STRANGE  HIDING  PLACE 102 

From  the  "Memoirs  of  the  Sieur  de 
Pontis." 

XIII.  A  FAMILY  QUARREL  IN  1649 109 

From  the  "Memoirs  of  the  Sieur  de 
Pontis. " 

XIV.  THE  COURAGEOUS  PREACHER 131 

From  the  "Journal  of  Pierre  de  L'Es- 
toile." 

XV.  HENRY  IV  AND  THE  ATTORNEYS 133 

From  the  "Journal  of  Pierre  de  L'Es- 
toile. " 

XVI.  THE  POPE  AND  THE  AMBASSADOR 136 

From  the  "Journal  of  Pierre  de  L'Es- 
toile." 

XVII.  A  TRIAL  WITH  A  SINGULAR  EPISODE.  ...   137 

From  the  "Memoirs  of  Madame  de 
Motteville. " 


THE  SIEGE  OF  RENNES,   OR 

HOW  THE  DUKE  WAS  ENABLED  TO 

KEEP  HIS  OATH 

IN  the  year  1355,  the  Duke  of  Lancaster 
besieged  Rennes  and  took  an  oath  that  he 
would  not  leave  it  till  he  had  entered  the  city. 
Rennes  was  held  for  Duke  Charles  of  Blois  by 
Lame  de  Pennehoet,  who  was  a  chevalier  of  great 
prowess  and  great  sense.  Bertrand  du  Guesclin, 
who  had  relatives  in  Rennes,  wished  much  to  be  in 
the  city,  but  the  Duke  had  besieged  it  so  closely  on 
all  sides,  that  no  help  of  men  or  provisions  could 
enter.  So  Bertrand,  with  about  sixty  companions, 
remained  in  the  great  woods  which  were  near  Rennes, 
and  by  day  and  night  attacked  the  Duke's  men, 
shouting,  "Guesclin!"  The  Duke  marvelled  at  this, 
and  inquired  who  it  was  that  waked  up  his  host  so 
often.  There  was  there  a  chevalier  of  Brittany  who 
said  to  the  Duke,  "I  swear  to  you  that  he  is  a  young 
man  of  twenty  years  of  age,  of  good  parentage,  who 
has  some  young  people  in  company  with  him;  and, 
young  as  he  is,  he  has  done  as  many  feats  of  arms 

11 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

as  any  chevalier  of  this  country  has  ever  done." 
Then  he  told  the  Duke  how  Bertrand  had  taken  the 
castle  of  Forgeray  and  had  taken  his  name  from  that 
Then  the  Duke  said  that,  as  he  had  taken  the  castle, 
he  might  well  claim  to  be  the  Sire  de  Forgeray,  and 
that  he  wished  he  was  somewhere  else. 

The  Duke  made  great  assaults  upon  Rennes,  but 
he  lost  more  than  he  gained  in  them.  And  so  he 
began  to  mine  the  walls.  Thereupon  de  Pennehoet, 
who  suspected  it,  ordered  that,  in  order  to  find  out 
the  mine,  every  one  should  keep  in  his  house  basins 
or  pans  of  brass  with  bits  of  iron  in  them,  by  the 
rattle  of  which,  from  the  jar  of  the  digging  under- 
ground, they  found  where  the  mine  was  and  began  a 
countermine. 

Bertrand  learned  of  the  mine  and  was  greatly 
troubled;  and  one  night  he  and  his  companions  rode 
into  the  camp  of  the  Duke  and  set  fire  to  some  tents, 
and  raised  such  a  shout  that  the  Englishmen  thought 
that  they  were  attacked  by  the  French  of  the  party 
of  Charles  of  Blois.  In  that  attack  Bertrand  took 
four  chevaliers  prisoners  and  let  them  go  on  parole, 
and  then  he  retreated  into  the  forest.  But  the 
Englishmen  remained  under  arms  all  night  long, 
till  the  sentinels  in  the  morning  came  and  reported 

12 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

that  there  was  no  attacking  force;  and  then  the  Duke 
thought  and  said  that  it  was  Bertrand  who  would 
not  let  them  sleep.  Then  came  one  of  the  English 
prisoners,  whom  Bertrand  had  sent  to  the  Duke,  and 
said,  "Bertrand,  whose  prisoner  I  am,  has  sent  me 
to  say  to  you  that  it  was  he,  who  gave  you  the 
wake-up  last  night,  and  that  henceforward  he  will 
let  you  sleep,  if  you  will  let  him  and  his  companions 
enter  into  Rennes,  for  he  wishes  much  to  see  his 
relatives  who  are  there. "  But  the  Duke  was  very 
wrathful,  and  answered  that  he  would  give  no  truce 
for  that  purpose.  And  he  pressed  more  strongly 
the  mining  of  the  wall. 

But  the  men  of  Rennes  countermined  till  they 
broke  into  the  English  mine;  and  there  was  a  long 
fight  in  the  mine.  But  at  last  the  English  were 
discomfited  and  driven  out  and  the  mine  was  ruined. 
The  Duke,  when  he  heard  of  it,  was  in  great  wrath. 
So  he  held  the  siege  still  closer,  so  that  those  of 
Rennes  could  receive  neither  help  nor  provisions. 
And  the  Duke  knew  well  that  there  was  a  great  lack 
of  meat  in  Rennes;  but  the  men  of  Rennes  would 
make  no  sortie.  So  the  Duke  thought  of  a  scheme 
to  get  the  garrison  to  come  outside  the  walls. 
He  collected  about  two  thousand  swine,  and  put 

13 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

them  to  pasture  in  the  meadows  near  the  wall  of 
the  city.  And  the  men  of  Rennes  wanted  to  come 
out  and  seize  the  swine,  but  the  captain  would  not 
allow  it.  And  he  thought  of  a  trick  to  meet  that  of 
the  Duke.  He  sent  for  a  butcher  and  told  him  to 
bring  a  sow  near  the  drawbridge.  Then  he  lowered 
the  bridge  and  just  inside  the  wall  he  had  the  butcher 
stick  the  sow,  which  squealed  loudly.  And  when 
the  herd  of  swine  heard  it,  they  began  to  squeal  too 
and  ran  there,  and  nothing  could  stop  them  from 
running  into  the  city,  and  in  such  a  crush  that  not 
an  Englishman  dared  set  foot  on  the  bridge.  And 
so  the  men  of  Rennes  got  the  Duke 's  swine,  at  which 
he  was  vexed  enough.  But  they  were  greatly 
pleased  for  they  had  been  without  meat  for  a  long 
time  and  would  have  been  still  longer,  because  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster  had  taken  an  oath  for  the  siege, 
and  every  day  the  supplies  in  Rennes  grew  less,  and 
they  had  seen  no  help  on  any  side. 

Then  de  Pennehoet  called  the  leaders  of  Rennes 
together  to  consider  how  they  could  get  help  from 
Duke  Charles  of  Blois,  who  was  at  Nantes,  but  was 
a  prisoner  on  parole,  and  therefore  could  not  take 
up  arms.  There  came  to  them  one  of  the  citizens, 
who  had  six  children  and  nothing  for  them,  and  he 

14 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

said,  "Seigneurs!  if  you  please,  I  will  venture  as  I 
shall  tell  you;  that  is,  I  will  go  to  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster and  will  say  to  him  that  you  have  banished 
me  and  seized  my  property.  And  I  will  tell  him 
that  help  is  going  to  come  to  you  from  France  very 
soon,  and  that  the  French  force  plans  to  make  a 
secret  attack,  and  that  they  are  to  come  from 
Nantes ;  and  I  will  show  him  the  way  that  they  must 
come.  And  if  by  means  of  this  I  can  then  escape 
from  the  English,  I  will  go  to  Nantes  to  tell  Duke 
Charles  of  Blois  what  straits  we  are  in.  But  I  ask 
you  to  take  care  of  my  children." 

The  men  of  Rennes  agreed  to  this  and  they  made 
a  sally  against  the  English,  in  which  the  citizen  of 
Rennes  slipped  aside,  and  succeeded  in  coming  to 
the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  and  said  to  him,  "Ah! 
Monseigneur !  What  a  hard  time  it  will  be,  if 
Rennes  holds  out  like  this.  Monseigneur!  it  is 
true  that  I  am  from  Rennes,  but  those  who  are  in 
Rennes  have  banished  me  and  killed  my  six  children 
and  seized  my  property.  And  so  I  am  trying  to  go 
to  Nantes,  hoping  to  have  pity  from  the  Duke  who 
has  paid  no  attention  to  Rennes.  Monseigneur! 
you  have  been  here  a  long  time;  but  if  you  do  not 
look  out,  you  will^not  be  here  much  longer.  For, 

15 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

by  my  faith,  tomorrow  you  will  have  on  your  hands 
a  French  force,  which  has  secretly  started  from 
Nantes  to  attack  you.  And  they  are  coming  by 
two  different  ways,  so  as  to  surprise  you  at  two 
different  points. "  So  the  Duke,  on  this  news,  set 
his  men  in  array  to  receive  the  French.  And  those 
who  were  in  Rennes  made  bonfires,  and  made  the 
musicians  play  on  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  made  a 
great  semblance  of  rejoicing  about  something. 

The  citizen  of  Rennes  succeeded  in  escaping  from 
the  English  camp  and  took  his  way  towards  Nantes. 
The  next  morning  he  found  on  his  way  Bertrand 
and  his  companions,  who  were  coming  to  spy  out 
the  English  host.  Bertrand  knew  the  man,  and  he 
told  Bertrand  how  it  was  with  those  in  Rennes,  and 
what  he  had  told  the  Duke  of  Lancaster.  That 
morning  the  Duke  rode  out  on  the  road  towards 
Nantes,  hoping  to  meet  the  French.  At  his  head- 
quarters he  left  tents  and  carts  and  provisions  and 
a  party  to  guard.  But  Bertrand  attacked  it,  crying 
his  war-cry  of  "Guesclin,"  and  the  English  put 
themselves  on  the  defense.  And  when  the  garrison 
saw  that  Bertrand  was  fighting  with  the  English, 
they  made  a  sally  to  help  him,  and  the  English  were 
discomfited  and  the  tents  of  the  Duke  and  the  carts 

16 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

and  the  provisions  were  carried  into  the  city,  to  the 
great  joy  of  his  relatives  and  of  the  whole  city. 

The  Duke  of  Lancaster  soon  heard  of  this  and 
saw  that  he  had  been  deceived  in  this  and  was  very 
angry.  So  he  held  the  siege  about  Rennes  closer 
and  closer.  When  Bertrand  had  entered  Rennes, 
he  set  free  without  ransom  the  foreign  merchants 
who  were  among  his  prisoners,  who  had  brought 
supplies  to  the  English  host,  making  the  men  of 
Rennes  pay  them  for  the  supplies  which  they  had 
and  which  he  had  captured  with  them.  But  he 
made  them  promise  that  they  would  bring  no  more 
supplies  to  the  Duke  of  Lancaster's  army.  Then 
he  sent  them  to  the  Duke  with  a  polite  message  from 
him,  which  they  gave  to  the  Duke.  He  was  very 
much  pleased,  and  said  that  so  generous  a  heart 
could  do  no  evil  deed,  and  that  Bertrand  surpassed 
all  the  chevaliers  in  the  world,  and  he  wished  much 
that  he  could  see  him.  The  Count  of  Pembroke, 
who  was  with  him,  said  to  him,  "I  advise  you  to 
send  a  safe-conduct  to  Bertrand  with  an  invitation, 
and  I  know  him  so  well  that  I  am  sure  he  will  come. " 
So  the  Duke  sent  a  herald  to  Rennes  and  invited 
Bertrand  to  visit  him  with  three  others,  for  whom 
he  sent  a  safe-conduct. 

17 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

So  the  herald  came  into  Rennes  and  addressed 
the  captain  and  asked  for  Bertrand.  He  was  just 
coming  up  the  street,  clad  in  a  black  doublet  which 
made  no  show,  and  carrying  an  axe  on  his  shoulder; 
and  the  captain  pointed  him  out  to  the  herald.  And 
the  herald  said,  "Saint  Mary!  captain,  he  looks  like 
a  brigand  in  that  array."  And  the  captain  said, 
"My  friend,  I  advise  you  to  speak  courteously  to 
him,  for  otherwise  you  will  get  nothing  of  him." 
So  the  captain  called  Bertrand;  and  the  herald 
saluted  him  in  the  name  of  the  Duke,  and  courteously 
said  to  him,  "Sir,  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  sends  me 
to  you!  He  has  heard  so  much  good  of  you,  that 
he  much  desires  to  see  you;  and  therefore  he  asks 
that  you  and  three  others  would  kindly  come  to  see 
him  in  his  quarters.  Wherefore  take  this  safe- 
conduct  which  he  sends  to  you  by  me. " 

So  Bertrand  gave  the  herald  a  hundred  francs, 
for  which  the  herald  thanked  him  much,  and  he 
went  to  pay  the  visit  to  the  Duke.  When  the 
English  heard  of  the  coming  of  Bertrand,  they  came 
out  of  their  tents  and  pavilions  to  see  him  pass.  And 
he  came  to  the  Duke 's  tent  and  knelt  very  humbly 
before  him.  And  the  Duke  at  once  raised  him  and 
thanked  him  very  much  for  coming  at  his  invitation. 

18 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

The  Duke  held  a  long  conversation  with  Bertrand 
and  saw  plainly  by  what  he  said  that  there  was  great 
bravery  in  him.  So  he  wished  much  to  draw  him 
to  his  side;  and  he  asked  him  who  was  his  seigneur. 
"Sire,"  said  Bertrand,  "you  know  well  enough. 
You  know  that  it  is  Monseigneur  Charles  of  Blois, 
who,  by  right  of  his  wife,  holds  the  Duchy  of  Brit- 
tany." 

"My  friend  Bertrand,"  answered  the  Duke, 
"Charles  does  not  yet  hold  the  Duchy  of  Brittany. 
And  before  he  could  hold  it  a  hundred  thousand 
men  would  have  to  die,  which  would  be  a  pity." 

Bertrand  replied  quickly,  "I  well  believe  that 
enough  men  will  be  killed.  But  at  least  the  property 
will  be  left  for  those  that  remain." 

The  Duke  smiled  at  that,  and  said  to  Bertrand, 
"If  you  will  enter  my  service,  I  will  make  you  a 
chevalier  and  I  will  give  you  land  enough  to  maintain 
your  station  well." 

When  Bertrand  heard  this  he  thought  a  little  and 
said,  ''Sire,  I  would  to  God  that  there  was  a  good 
peace  between  you  princes.  For  truly  if  there  was 
peace,  especially  with  Monseigneur  Duke  Charles, 
whom  I  serve,  I  would  be  glad  to  do  as  you  wish. 
But,  Sire,  if  I  had  been  in  your  service  and  then 

19 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

should  have  left  it  to  serve  another,  who  was  opposed 
to  you,  you  would  hold  me  for  a  traitor  and  disloyal, 
which  must  never  happen."  The  Duke  esteemed 
Bertrand  highly  for  that  reply;  and  he  had  wine 
and  spices  brought,  with  which  the  chevaliers  were 
served. 

There  was  at  that  time  in  the  English  army 
William  Brambrock,  brother  of  Robert  Brambrock, 
who  had  been  killed  when  Bertrand  took  the  Castle  of 
Forgeray.  He  came  before  Bertrand  and  demanded 
of  him  a  joust  of  three  spear  strokes.  Bertrand 
said  he  would  give  him  that  or  one  of  six  strokes,  if 
he  was  not  content  with  three.  The  Duke  smiled 
and  said  that  Bertrand  had  given  a  proud  answer. 
Then  he  said  to  them,  "Fair  sirs,  since  you  please 
to  have  this  joust  in  my  presence,  I  wish  it  to  be 
held  tomorrow."  Then  came  the  herald  to  the 
Duke  and  said,  "Sire,  I  must  thank  you  for  the 
courtesy  and  largess  which  Bertrand  showed  me, 
for  to  your  honor  he  gave  me  a  great  present." 
The  Duke  was  much  pleased  with  Bertrand  for  that, 
and  thanked  him  much  and  ordered  the  best  courser 
he  had  to  be  brought  and  gave  it  to  Bertrand. 
And  Bertrand  said  to  him,  "Sire,  you  are  the  first 
prince  that  ever  made  a  gift  to  me.  I  am  a  poor 

20 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

man  and  cannot  serve  you,  but  I  swear  to  you  that 
I  would  willingly  serve  you  in  every  case,  saving 
my  honor.  The  courser  is  fine  and  I  thank  you  for 
it,  and  tomorrow  I  will  make  a  trial  of  it  in  your 
presence."  And  then  Bertrand  took  leave  of  the 
Duke  and  went  back  into  the  city. 

The  next  morning  early  he  confessed  and  heard 
mass,  and  then  he  armed  himself  and  went  to  the 
quarters  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster;  and  the  Count  of 
Pembroke  was  to  keep  the  field.  And  shortly  Bram- 
brock  came  in  and  afterward  Bertrand.  They 
mounted  their  horses  and  ran  against  each  other  with 
great  force.  And  the  first  course  they  struck  each 
other's  helmets;  and  Brambrock  was  much  hurt,  but 
Bertrand  was  not,  though  he  was  dazed  by  the 
blow.  They  ran  the  two  other  courses  but  without 
any  wound  on  either  side.  Then  Bertrand  was 
much  vexed  and  he  said  to  the  Chevalier  Brambrock, 
"I  have  done  what  you  requested  and  for  the  honor 
of  Monseigneur  the  Duke,  who  is  there,  I  have 
spared  you;  but  if  you  want  any  more,  more  you 
shall  have."  Brambrock  took  his  words  in  great 
dudgeon  and  said  that  he  required  as  much  again. 
So  Bertrand  agreed,  and  the  joust  began  again,  and 
with  the  first  lance  Bertrand  struck  Brambrock 

21 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

with  such  force  that  his  armor  gave  way  and  the 
iron  of  the  spear  struck  through  his  body  and  he 
fell  dead  on  the  field.  Bertrand  took  his  horse, 
and  came  before  the  Duke  to  thank  him  and  said, 
"Sire!  I  came  here  with  one  horse  and  I  go  away 
with  two,  thanks  to  you."  Then  the  Duke 's  herald 
came  there,  and  when  Bertrand  saw  him  he  gave 
him  the  horse  which  he  had  won  in  the  joust,  for 
which  the  Duke  and  his  chivalry  held  him  in  great 
honor.  And  then  Bertrand  went  back  into  Rennes, 
and  there  he  was  honorably  received  and  feasted 
that  day;  but  about  vespers,  the  Duke  made  an 
assault  on  the  city,  and  the  English  brought  up  a 
tall  tower  very  close  to  the  walls.  When  night  came 
the  assault  drew  off,  but  the  Duke  put  men-at-arms 
and  cross-bow  men  in  the  tower  to  keep  it,  hoping 
in  the  morning  to  begin  the  assault  there  again. 
But  at  daylight,  as  Bertrand  advised,  de  Pennehoet 
and  Bertrand  and  a  great  number  of  men  of  Rennes 
sallied  out  and  assailed  the  tower  and  killed  the 
guard,  and  burned  the  tower  with  Greek  fire.  And 
the  English  host  assailed  them  fiercely,  but  they 
defended  themselves  retreating,  so  that  without 
loss  they  got  back  into  Rennes. 

Now  winter  approached  and  the  Duke  and  the 
22 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

English  were  much  worn  by  the  siege  which  had 
lasted  so  long;  and  the  Duke  would  have  willingly 
raised  the  siege,  but  that  he  had  sworn  that  he  would 
not  leave  it  till  he  had  placed  his  pennon  over  the 
gate  of  the  city.  In  the  city  they  were  in  a  great 
trouble,  by  reason  of  the  great  diminution  of  pro- 
visions; and  Bertrand  knew  well  the  oath  that  the 
Duke  had  taken.  So  Bertrand  had  the  chevaliers 
and  barons,  who  were  in  Rennes,  called  together  by 
his  advice,  and  it  was  resolved  that  if  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  he  and  nine  others  only,  would  come  into 
Rennes,  they  would  open  the  gates  to  him,  and  that 
in  order  to  keep  his  oath  he  might  plant  his  pennon 
over  the  gates,  but  then  he  must  raise  the  siege. 
Bertrand  sent  word  to  the  Duke,  who  received  it 
pleasantly  and  asked  three  days  to  consider  it. 
Some  of  the  English  chevaliers  advised  the  Duke  to 
do  nothing  of  the  kind,  unless  the  city  was  put  at 
his  command,  for  that  they  knew  well  the  city  was 
starving.  But  the  Duke  determined  that  he  would 
go  into  Rennes,  he  and  nine  others,  and  would  ride 
through  the  city,  and  he  would  act  according  to 
what  he  saw.  And  the  day  was  agreed  upon.  And 
the  day  before  that,  by  Bertrand 's  orders,  notice 
was  given  through  the  city  that  next  day  every  one 

23 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 


should  be  under  arms,  and  that  all  provisions,  bread, 
grain,  meat  and  fish  should  be  displayed  on  the 
stalls  and  in  the  windows  of  the  city.  And  on  the 
day  set,  the  Duke  and  nine  others,  chevaliers,  came; 
and  the  captain  and  Bertrand  met  him  and  took  him 
through  the  city.  And  when  the  Duke  saw  all  the 
provisions  which  there  were  on  the  stalls  and  the 
men  who  were  in  arms  throughout  the  city,  he  sent  a 
herald  to  his  headquarters  to  get  his  banners  and 
pennons,  which  were  quickly  brought.  And  the 
Duke  went  up  over  the  gate  at  Rennes  and  planted 
his  banners  there  and  then  came  down;  and  they 
brought  him  wine  which  he  drank  and  then  went 
out  of  the  city.  And  as  soon  as  he  was  on  the  outer 
side  of  the  bridge,  those,  who  were  over  the  gate  of 
the  city,  threw  his  banners  after  him,  which  so 
vexed  the  Duke  that  he  was  sorry  he  had  made  the 
agreement.  But  still,  in  order  to  keep  his  word, 
he  raised  the  siege,  since  he  could  now  do  it  without 
breaking  his  oath,  and  retired  to  the  castle  of  Auroy 
and  passed  the  winter  there. 

After  the  siege  was  raised,  Duke  Charles  of  Blois 
came  to  Rennes  and  there  learned  all  that  Bertrand 
had  done  and  all  his  bravery,  and  held  him  very 
highly  prized  therefor. 

24 


THE  DOG  DID  IT 


IN  the  year  1388,  Charles  VI  was 
King  of  France.  Difficulties  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  municipality  of  the  city  of  Paris 
had  arisen,  to  remedy  which  the  King 
created  a  new  office  of  Provost  of  the  Merchants,  to 
which  he  appointed  a  lawyer,  called  Master  Jean 
Juvenal  des  Ursins.  He  took  up  an  investigation 
of  the  business  affairs  of  the  city  which  he  found  had 
been  much  neglected,  and  succeeded  in  putting  them 
on  a  much  better  footing,  and  thereby  brought  him- 
self into  high  favor  in  the  city.  And  for  several 
years  he  showed  himself  a  faithful,  upright  and 
intelligent  officer,  and  as  says  the  chronicler,  "He 
governed  himself  so  well  in  his  office  that  he  had  the 
love  and  favor  of  the  King  and  of  all  the  people,  as 
well  the  church  people  as  the  nobles,  the  merchants 
and  the  commonalty,"  so  that  his  influence  and 
power  in  the  court  increased  greatly.  In  1392,  the 
King  was  struck  by  a  seizure  of  insanity  which  at 
intervals  recurred  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  This 
condition  of  the  King's  health,  even  in  his  lucid 

25 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

intervals,  had  a  very  injurious  effect  upon  the  public 
affairs,  and  the  wisdom  of  Des  Ursins  was  availed  of 
frequently  in  the  effort  to  remedy  difficulties  and 
heal  dissensions  in  the  court.  For  as  a  matter  of 
course,  there  were  those  who  sought  to  take  advantage 
of  such  a  disturbed  condition  of  affairs  and  to  fish 
in  the  troubled  waters.  They  found  a  powerful 
opposition  to  their  schemes  in  the  influence  of  Des 
Ursins.  Some  honored  and  prized  him  for  the 
good  work,  which  he  was  doing,  but  the  hostility  of 
those  whose  schemes  of  personal  advantage  he  was 
thwarting,  was  thereby  made  more  bitter,  and  they 
entered  upon  a  scheme  for  his  ruin.  The  Duke  of 
Burgundy  was  known  to  be  hostile  to  Des  Ursins, 
who  had  before  that  time  thwarted  him  in  a  purpose 
to  ruin  two  of  Des  Ursins'  friends,  and  to  the  Duke 
they  went  with  false  tales  that  he  had  spoken  ill  of 
the  Duke  and  others,  and  had  done  various  things 
worthy  of  punishment.  The  Duke  listened  to  them 
very  gladly  and  believed  their  stories.  He  had  them 
put  in  writing  and  given  to  two  commissioners  of 
the  criminal  court  to  take  depositions  and  prepare 
on  them  an  information  against  Des  Ursins  before 
the  commissioners.  The  conspirators  produced  some 
thirty  witnesses,  who  had  been  carefully  drilled,  so 

26 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

that  their  stories,  though  false,  agreed  upon  the 
surface.  And  on  a  Thursday  after  dinner  the 
commissioners  came  to  the  Duke  and  told  him  that 
the  information  was  prepared  and  the  document 
only  needed  to  be  engrossed.  The  Duke  was  in 
haste  and  he  told  them  that  there  was  no  need  of 
engrossing  the  papers,  and  that  they  must  be  taken 
to  the  King's  attorney-general,  that  he  might  be 
ready  on  the  following  Saturday  morning  to  present 
the  case  against  Des  Ursins  before  the  King  and  his 
Council.  But  the  attorney-general  on  being  applied 
to,  either  because  he  had  had  intimations  that  the 
matter  was  a  trumped  up  affair,  or  that  he  was 
friendly  to  Des  Ursins,  flatly  refused  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  matter,  which  was  therefore 
put  in  the  hands  of  an  advocate  of  the  parliament, 
named  Andriquet,  who  agreed  to  present  the  case 
on  the  Saturday  morning  to  the  King  and  council. 
The  commissioners  then  informed  the  Duke  that 
everything  was  ready,  and  he  arranged  to  have  Des 
Ursins  summoned  to  appear  at  the  appointed  time. 
The  commissioners  left  the  presence  of  the  Duke  in 
high  good  humor,  for  he  had  not  only  expressed 
his  satisfaction  with  what  they  had  done,  but  had 
paid  them  well.  A  good  dinner  seemed  to  them  a 

27 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

most  appropriate  thing,  and  they  were  soon  estab- 
lished before  a  table  in  a  hostelry,  on  one  side  of 
which  table  they  had  laid  their  bundle  of  papers  so 
that  it  should  not  incommode  them  in  their  pleasant 
occupation.  The  dinner  was  good  and  the  wine 
was  good,  and  they  did  not  spare  it,  until  at  last 
their  heads  became  muddled;  and  a  sharp  discussion 
having  arisen  between  them  and  some  of  the  fre- 
quenters of  the  place,  one  of  the  commissioners 
emphasized  his  statements  by  such  blows  on  the 
table  that  the  bundle  of  papers  fell  to  the  floor. 
In  the  heat  of  the  discussion  neither  of  them  noticed 
its  fall,  and  the  innkeeper's  puppy,  frolicking  around 
the  room,  thought  it  was  thrown  down  for  him  to 
play  with;  and  seizing  it  in  his  mouth  he  ran  into 
the  innkeeper's  bedroom,  the  door  of  which  was 
open,  and  dragged  it  under  the  bed,  where,  finding 
it  too  heavy  for  a  satisfactory  plaything,  he  left  it. 
The  hour  waxed  late,  the  hour  for  closing  arrived 
and  the  muddle-headed  commissioners  staggered 
out  and  betook  themselves  to  their  respective 
quarters,  each  of  them,  when  the  bundle  of  papers 
occurred  to  him,  saying  to  himself  that  his  fellow 
had  it.  The  innkeeper  also  went  to  bed,  and  his 
wife,  who  out  of  deference  to  her  lord  and  master 

28 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

slept  on  the  backside  of  the  bed,  which  was  pulled  a 
little  way  from  the  wall,  was  seeking  her  proper  place, 
when  she  stubbed  her  toe  on  an  unexpected  object. 
Her  outcry  startled  her  husband  to  whom  she 
explained  that  she  had  hit  something,  which  she, 
stooping,  picked  up  and  gave  to  him.  He,  seeing 
that  it  was  a  bundle  of  papers,  opened  it  and  to  his 
amazement,  found  that  it  contained  an  information 
charging  various  crimes  upon  Provost  Des  Ursins, 
and  depositions  in  support  of  it.  He  held  the 
Provost  in  high  regard,  and  he  at  once  appreciated 
the  importance  of  his  discovery.  So  up  he  rose  and 
donned  his  clothes,  and  hastened  with  his  prize  to 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where,  on  his  earnest  representa- 
tions, he  was  admitted  to  the  presence  of  the  Provost, 
who  rose  from  his  bed  to  give  him  audience,  for  it 
was  about  midnight.  The  innkeeper  exhibited  the 
papers,  and  explained  how  the  wine  which  the 
commissioners  had  drunk  and  the  antic  of  his  dog, 
and  the  stubbing  of  his  wife's  toe  had  put  him  in 
possession  of  them.  The  Provost  thanked  him 
most  warmly  for  the  service  rendered,  and  the  inn- 
keeper returned  home  having  been  warned  to  keep 
silence  about  the  matter,  and  the  Provost,  having 
made  himself  familiar  with  the  papers,  returned  to 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

his  bed  to  wait  for  the  explosion  of  the  mine  which 
the  papers  disclosed,  and  against  which  he  was 
made,  by  this  accident,  able  to  countermine.  He 
did  not  have  long  to  wait,  for  before  he  got  up  in 
the  morning  an  officer  came  to  summon  him  to 
appear  before  the  King  and  his  council  at  9  o'clock 
on  the  following  Saturday  morning.  The  Duke  and 
his  followers  were  so  sure  of  their  success  that  they 
arranged  the  prison  in  which  the  Provost  should  be 
at  once  shut  up,  and  the  report  was  spread,  to  the 
astonishment  of  everybody,  that  the  Provost  was 
in  danger  of  losing  his  head. 

At  the  appointed  time  Des  Ursins  appeared  but 
not  alone,  for  he  was  accompanied  by  three  or  four 
hundred  of  the  best  citizens  of  Paris,  and  somewhat 
to  the  surprise  of  his  opponents  he  did  not  seem  to 
be  at  all  disturbed.  Andriquet  set  forth  to  the  King 
the  charges  which  had  been  made  against  the  Pro- 
vost and  supported  by  witnesses  and  on  which  an 
information  had  been  presented,  as  he  said,  for 
various  crimes  of  which  Des  Ursins  had  thus  been 
shown  to  be  guilty.  When  Andriquet  ceased,  Des 
Ursins  rose  to  speak,  but  Andriquet  objected.  He 
said  the  matter  was  so  serious  that  it  should  go  before 
a  high  tribunal,  before  which  Des  Ursins  would  have 

30 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

his  opportunity  to  be  heard,  and  meanwhile  he  should 
be  put  in  prison  and  held  there  till  such  hearing 
could  be  had.  But  the  King  closed  the  discussion 
by  saying  that  he  would  hear  the  Provost.  Des 
Ursins  then  took  up  the  various  charges,  denying 
each  of  them  and  claiming  that  they  had  been 
trumped  up  against  him,  and  adding  that  against 
an  officer  of  the  King  no  proceeding  could  be  taken 
except  by  information,  and  notwithstanding  what 
Master  Andriquet  had  said,  he  did  not  believe  that 
any  information  had  been  drawn  or  any  depositions 
had  been  taken  against  him.  Andriquet,  with  a 
smile  of  superiority,  said  he  would  soon  show  that 
what  he  had  said  was  true,  and  turning  to  the  com- 
missioners who  stood  behind  him  said, "  Give  me  the 
papers."  Hasty  whispers  passed  between  them. 
"  You  have  got  them. "  "  No !  I  have  not. "  "  You 
must  have  them,"  until  with  faces  of  dismay  they 
were  obliged  to  say  that  they  did  not  have  the 
papers  and  did  not  know  what  had  become  of  them. 
The  King,  who  watched  their  embarrassment  with 
amusement,  waited  until  Andriquet  in  great  embar- 
rassment admitted  that  he  could  not  produce  any 
information  or  depositions,  and  he  then  pronounced 
his  sentence  in  the  affair. 

31 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

"I  decide  that  my  Provost  is  an  upright  man  and 
those  who  have  set  up  these  things  are  bad  people. " 

And  turning  to  Des  Ursins  he  said,  "You  may 
go,  my  friend.  And  you  too,  my  good  citizens." 

The  rage  of  the  conspirators  and  the  dismay  of 
the  commissioners  may  be  imagined.  Their  dismay 
extended  to  the  witnesses,  who  perceived  the  favor 
in  which  Des  Ursins  was  held  by  the  King,  and 
when  told  by  the  commissioners  that  they  must  come 
again  and  testify  as  they  did  before,  they  flatly 
refused  and  said  that  the  King  had  decided  that 
Des  Ursins  was  an  upright  man,  and  they  would  do 
nothing  further  against  him.  The  false  witnesses 
could  not  help  considering  that  the  Provost,  if  he 
had  knowledge  of  what  they  had  done,  might  make 
things  serious  for  them,  and  they  took  counsel 
together  as  to  how  to  guard  themselves  from  that 
danger.  They  concluded  that,  if  any  such  proceed- 
ings were  begun,  they  would  be  in  a  better  position, 
if  they  could  appear  as  being  penitent  for  the  sin  they 
had  committed  in  perjuring  themselves,  and  as  having 
been  absolved  for  that  by  authority  of  the  church. 
So  they  went  to  a  priest  and  in  confession  told  him 
what  they  had  done  and  begged  to  be  absolved  from 
their  sins.  But  the  priest  easily  perceived  that  it 

32 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 


was  not  an  ordinary  case  of  awakened  consciences, 
and  he  refused  to  absolve  them,  telling  them  they 
must  go  to  the  Bishop  of  Paris.  They  did  so,  but 
the  bishop  also  told  them  that  their  case  was  so  bad 
and  important  that  he  did  not  dare  to  give  them 
absolution;  and  he  advised  them  to  go  to  Cardinal 
de  Luna,  who  was  then  in  Paris  as  legate  from  the 
pope.  To  the  cardinal  they  went,  and  he  being, 
as  legate,  not  as  apprehensive  of  running  counter 
to  the  Provost  as  had  been  the  priest  and  the  bishop, 
heard  their  confession  and  gave  them  absolution, 
but  he  laid  upon  them  as  a  penance  that  on  the 
morning  of  Good  Friday,  they  must  all  appear 
naked  before  Des  Ursins'  gate,  acknowledge  their 
fault  and  beg  his  forgiveness. 

"But,"  said  they,  "if  we  appear  there  naked  he 
will  recognize  us." 

So  the  cardinal  gave  them  permission  to  have 
their  heads  wrapped  up  to  conceal  their  faces. 

When  Des  Ursins,  on  the  morning  of  Good  Friday, 
went  out  of  his  gate  to  go  to  early  church,  he  found 
before  him  an  astonishing  spectacle  of  some  thirty 
men,  naked  except  that  their  heads  were  covered  so 
as  to  hide  their  faces,  who  cried  for  mercy.  To  his 
inquiry  as  to  what  they  wanted  mercy  for,  one  of 

33 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

them,  who  had  been  selected  as  spokesman,  told  him 
that  they  were  those  who  had  testified  against  him, 
and  that  their  stories  had  been  false,  and  that  having 
confessed  their  sin  in  the  matter  they  had  been 
absolved  from  it,  but  with  this  laid  upon  them  to 
appear  thus  before  him  and  ask  his  forgiveness. 
And  all  of  them  with  cries  and  tears  joined  in  the 
prayer. 

"But,"  said  he,  "who  are  you,  who  thus  appear 
before  me. " 

Said  the  spokesman,  "He,  who  laid  this  penance 
on  us,  gave  us  the  privilege  of  not  giving  you  our 
names. " 

"It  is  no  matter,"  said  Des  Ursins,  "I  know  the 
names  of  every  one  of  you.  You  are  such  a  one. 
You  are  such  a  one.  But  let  me  see  if  you  are  all 
here."  And  remembering  the  number  of  the  wit- 
nesses against  him,  he  counted  them  and  found  the 
tally  complete. 

And  so,  considering  that  the  part  of  mercy  was 
the  wise  one,  he  gave  them  his  forgiveness,  which 
they  received  with  humble  obeisance,  with  tears  in 
their  eyes  and  cries  of  thanks,  and  very  speedily 
they  disappeared. 

Des  Ursins  filled  the  office  of  Provost  for  several 
34 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

years  after  with  great  consideration  and  respect. 
The  manner  of  the  mysterious  disappearance  of  the 
information  papers  was  still  a  secret  for  long,  but 
finally,  when  the  affair  had  become  past  history, 
it  became  known.  And  when  Des  Ursins  spoke  of 
it  to  his  friends,  it  was  not  unnatural  that  he  should 
have  ended  the  story  with  the  words,  "The  Dog 
Did  It." 


35 


LA  HIRE'S  PRAYER 


IN  the  year  1428,  the  Counts  of  Warwick  and 
Suffolk,  with  a  large  force  of  Englishmen,  and 
their  allies,  besieged  Montargis,  a  city  about 
fifty  miles  south  of  Paris.  It  was  held  by  a 
Gascon  gentleman  named  Bouzon  de  Failles,  with 
a  valiant  company.  The  English  made  their  siege 
works  so  close  that  no  one  could  get  in  or  out  of  the 
city  without  great  difficulty,  and  on  the  outside  of 
their  works,  they  made  ditches  and  hedges,  leaving 
some  open  spots,  through  which  the  English  camps 
could  be  entered.  The  English  pressed  the  siege 
strongly,  and  with  their  bombards  and  cannon 
broke  the  walls  in  divers  places.  Those  within  the 
city  defended  themselves  bravely  and  held  out  a 
long  time;  but  their  provisions  began  to  give  out, 
and  it  became  clear  that  they  could  not  hold  out 
much  longer.  This  becoming  known  to  the  Count 
de  Richemont,  constable  of  France,  and  to  Count 
Dunois,  they  got  together  provisions  and  as  large  a 
force  as  they  could,  among  whom  were  the  Seigneurs 
de  Graville,  de  Gancourt,  Estienne  de  Vignoles, 

36 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

called  La  Hire,  and  others.  They  considered  how 
they  might  put  the  provisions  into  the  city,  and 
concluded  that,  if  they  should  make  a  strong  skir- 
mish in  one  place,  they  might  throw  the  provisions 
in  on  the  other  side.  So  the  constable  went  towards 
one  side,  and  Dunois,  with  whom  was  La  Hire, 
towards  the  other.  La  Hire,  with  sixty  lances,  was 
directed  to  move  in  front  of  the  English  works,  to 
find  out  their  position;  and  Dunois  promised  to 
follow  him;  and  there  was  with  La  Hire  a  Scotch 
captain,  named  Quennede  (Kennedy)  and  the 
Abbott  of  Serquencions,  with  three  or  four  thousand 
footmen.  The  English  had  fortified  their  lines  out- 
side with  ditches  and  piles,  along  which  they  had 
built  their  huts  covered  with  bushes  and  dry  grass. 
When  La  Hire  approached  the  lines,  he  saw  that  it 
would  be  a  very  difficult  thing  to  force  them,  but 
he  saw  a  passage  through  which  it  seemed  that  they 
might  break  in.  So  he  and  his  companions  put 
their  lances  in  rest  to  charge  through  it.  Near  La 
Hire  was  a  chaplain,  whom  he  called  and  told  him  to 
give  him  absolution  at  once.  The  chaplain  said  he 
must  first  confess  his  sins.  La  Hire  replied  that  he 
had  no  time  for  that,  for  they  were  just  about  to 
charge  the  enemy;  and  that  he  had  done  what  men 

37 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

of  war  were  accustomed  to  do.  Thereupon  the 
chaplain  gave  him  absolution,  for  what  it  was  worth ; 
and  then  La  Hire  made  his  prayer  to  God,  saying  in 
Gascon,  having  joined  his  hands,  "God!  I  pray  Thee 
today  to  do  for  La  Hire,  as  much  as  Thou  wouldst 
wish  La  Hire  to  do  for  Thee,  if  he  were  God  and  thou 
wert  LaHire. " 

And  he  considered  that  he  had  prayed  and  said 
well.  Then  he  and  his  companions  charged  through 
the  entrance  into  the  English  lines,  followed  by  the 
men  on  foot.  The  English  were  surprised  at  dinner; 
but  they  called  "To  Arms"  at  once,  and  fought 
valiantly;  but  the  French  set  fire  to  the  English 
huts  and  forced  their  attack  on  both  sides  of  the 
city  so  that  by  nightfall  the  English  were  discomfited. 
The  siege  was  raised  and  the  city  delivered.  And 
this  was,  as  was  said,  a  very  valiant  enterprise, 
brought  to  success  by  the  said  Estienne  de  Vignoles, 
called  La  Hire. 


A  CONSPIRACY  AND  AN  AMBUSCADE 

1.     The  Conspiracy 

FRANCOIS  DE  SCARPEAUX,  Sire  de 
Vieilleville,  was  one  of  the  best  soldiers  of 
France  in  the  wars  in  Italy  between  the 
Emperor  Charles  V  and  King  Francis  I. 
He  was  so  brave  a  soldier  and  also  so  wise  in  strategy 
and  so  shrewd  in  judgment  that  the  Emperor  gave 
him  the  name  of  "The  Lion-Fox,"  a  soubriquet 
which  he  retained  all  his  life.  After  the  death  of 
Francis  I,  his  son,  Henry  II,  in  the  year  1552, 
appointed  de  Vieilleville  to  be  governor  of  the  city  of 
Metz,  a  city  near  the  northwestern  boundary  of 
France,  and  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  south 
of  the  city  of  Luxembourg,  which  was  held  by  the 
Imperialists,  with  a  strong  garrison  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Count  de  Mesgue.  The  state  of  war 
between  France  and  the  Empire  still  subsisted;  and 
these  two  governors  of  the  two  cities  watched  each 
other  across  the  border,  ready  to  attack  each  other, 
or  defend.  The  "Lion-Fox"  felt  the  necessity  for 

39 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

increased  watchfulness,  because  some  reforms,  which 
he  had  made  in  Metz  as  governor,  had  raised  a 
spirit  of  faction  among  some  of  the  citizens  against 
him,  and  the  strict  discipline  which  he  had  enforced 
upon  his  soldiers  had  made  some  of  the  worse  elements 
among  them  dissatisfied  with  his  rule. 

Now  there  was  in  Metz  a  monastery  of  cordeliers, 
who  were  called  Observantins,  who  had  come  to 
Metz  from  a  place  in  Flanders,  called  Nyvelles. 
Their  guardian  often  went  to  Nyvelles  to  visit  his 
relatives,  and  when  there  went  to  pay  his  respects  to 
Queen  Mary  of  Hungary,  who  was  Regent  of  the 
Emperor  in  Flanders,  and  talked  with  her  about 
affairs  in  Metz  and  in  Germany  and  France,  and 
became  really  a  spy  for  her.  She,  seeing  his  disposi- 
tion, one  day  asked  him  if  anything  could  be  under- 
taken against  Metz,  and  if  so,  how.  The  monk 
told  her  it  would  not  be  very  difficult,  by  reason  of 
the  dissatisfaction  among  the  soldiers  and  the 
citizens,  the  causes  of  which  he  explained  to  her. 
And  he  told  her  that,  if  she  would  furnish  him  thirty 
faithful  and  experienced  soldiers,  he  would  bring 
them  into  Metz  two  by  two  disguised  as  cordeliers; 
and  he  would  hope  within  two  months  to  render  a 
great  service  to  the  emperor,  for  she  could  send 

40 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

reinforcements  to  the  Count  de  Mesgue,  and  on  a 
certain  night  the  count 's  force  could  come  and  scale 
the  walls  of  Metz  at  a  place  where  they  were  low, 
while  he,  the  monk,  would  set  fire  to  a  hundred 
houses  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  city,  to  which 
everybody  would  run,  to  help  put  out  the  fire,  while 
the  monks  would  come  to  help  the  escalade,  and  more 
than  a  thousand  of  the  garrison  would  rise  and  cry 
"Liberty!  Liberty!  Death!  Death!  Kill  that  villain 
Vieilleville. "  But  he  required  a  promise  that  he 
should  be  made  bishop  of  Metz,  after  it  was  captured. 
The  regent  gave  him  the  promise  and  a  rich  ring  and 
five  hundred  crowns  to  meet  the  expense. 

The  monk  was  so  diligent  that  in  less  than  three 
weeks  he  had  brought  all  the  men  he  had  asked  for 
into  his  monastery  disguised  as  cordeliers,  and  had 
gained  over  all  the  real  monks,  twenty  in  number, 
by  promises  of  personal  advantage;  and  they  all 
performed  ceremonies  in  the  churches  and  houses 
so  sanctimoniously  that  they  were  none  of  them 
discovered  to  be  soldiers. 

But  the  word  came  to  de  Vieilleville  from  a  trusty 
servant,  whom  he  was  maintaining  in  Luxembourg, 
that  the  Queen  Regent  of  Flanders  was  sending  to 
the  Count  de  Mesgue,  twelve  hundred  chosen, 

41 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

well-equipped  arquebusmen,  eight  hundred  good 
cavalry  and  a  great  number  of  the  nobility  of  the 
Low  Countries;  and  moreover  the  count  had  given 
orders  to  get  ready  twenty  thousand  rations;  so 
that  there  must  be  some  enterprise  on  foot, 
though  the  agent  had  not  been  able  to  find  out  what 
it  was;  that  two  cordeliers  had  come  and  had  a  long 
interview  with  the  count,  and  the  report  was  that 
they  came  from  Brussels,  though  he  did  not  know  if 
that  was  true,  but  he  sent  the  word  to  de  Vieilleville 
that  he  might  think  it  over. 

The  Lion-Fox  made  no  delay.  He  quietly  went 
with  a  guard  to  the  monastery  of  the  regular  corde- 
liers. He  sent  for  the  guardian  and  inquired  how 
many  of  them  were  there,  had  them  all  ordered  to 
appear  in  the  church,  and  counting  them  found  that 
none  were  missing.  He  then  went  to  the  Observantin 
Convent  and  asked  to  see  the  guardian.  The  monks 
told  him  the  guardian  had  gone  to  Nyvelles  to  bury 
his  brother.  He  asked  how  many  there  were  of 
them  and  where  they  were.  They  told  him  that 
three  or  four  were  in  the  city  asking  alms.  But 
de  Vieilleville  noticed  that  they  turned  pale  and 
seemed  embarrassed,  and  he  locked  all  the  doors 
and  searched  through  the  convent,  and  in  one  of  the 

42 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

rooms  he  found  two  of  the  false  cordeliers  who  were 
sick.  But  the  clothes  of  the  bed  where  they  were 
lying  were  fine  for  monks,  and  their  breeches  were 
shaped  like  soldiers'  breeches  and  their  doublets 
which  lay  on  the  bed,  were  in  colors.  So  they  were 
seized  at  once,  and  by  threatening  them  with  instant 
death,  which  they  saw  before  them,  for  the  thumbs 
were  on  the  locks  of  the  arquebuses,  they  were  made 
to  tell  at  once  who  they  were,  and  who  made  them 
come  there  and  for  what  business.  They  freely 
confessed  that  they  were  not  cordeliers,  although 
they  had  their  heads  tonsured,  but  that  the  Queen 
of  Hungary  had  told  them  to  do  whatever  the 
guardian  ordered;  that  they  did  not  know  on  what 
business  he  wanted  to  employ  them,  but  hoped  to 
know  when  he  came  back  from  Luxembourg,  whither 
he  had  gone.  De  Vieilleville  concluded  that  the  two 
monks  who  had  had  the  conference  with  Count  de 
Mesgue  were  of  this  fraternity.  He  at  cnce  gave 
orders  that  all  the  city  gates  should  be  shut,  except 
the  Yffroy  Bridge  gate  which  opened  towards 
Luxembourg,  and  he  put  Captain  Amezan  with  a 
number  of  arquebusmen  in  charge  of  the  monastery 
with  orders  to  let  no  one  go  out,  but  to  seize  and 
hold  as  prisoners,  when  they  came,  those  who  were 

43 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

out  in  the  city,  which  the  captain  faithfully  did. 
He  then  went  to  the  Yffroy  Bridge  Gate,  which 
was  in  charge  ol  Captain  Salcede,  and  from  there  he 
sent  word  to  Madam  Vieilleville  to  have  dinner  with- 
out waiting  for  him  or  asking  where  he  was  or  what 
he  was  doing.  He  sent  all  his  guards  to  get  their 
dinners,  keeping  with  himself  one  gentleman,  a 
page  and  a  lackey,  and  staying  himself  among  the 
soldiers  who  were  to  guard  the  gate.  He  sent  word 
to  Captain  Salcede,  telling  him,  if  he  had  not  dined, 
to  bring  the  dinner  whatever  it  was,  without  adding 
anything,  and  they  would  eat  it  together  at  the 
gate,  which  he  was  not  going  to  leave  till  some  one 
whom  he  was  expecting  came;  and  the  captain  was 
to  ask  no  questions,  hut  come  at  once  with  what 
he  had,  even  if  it  was  only  garlic  and  radishes, 
Spanish  fashion,  for  Salcede  was  born  in  Spain. 
He,  much  excited,  came  at  once  with  his  dinner, 
which  was  passably  good,  and  they  had  no  sooner 
disposed  of  it  than  the  sentinel  reported  that  there 
were  two  cordeliers  on  horseback  coming  full  trot. 
De  Vieilleville  took  a  halberd  and  went  out  of 
the  gate  and  stood  at  the  barrier  with  two  soldiers 
only,  ordering  all  the  rest  to  keep  back.  The 
monk,  who  was  the  guardian,  recognizing  him, 

44 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

was  astonished  to  see  him  there,  doing  the  duty 
of  a  soldier,  and  got  off  his  horse.  De  Vieilleville 
told  him  to  come  to  Salcede's  quarters,  as  he 
had  something  to  say  to  him,  and  he  took 
thither  both  of  the  monks,  under  guard  of  two 
soldiers.  When  they  were  in  the  captain's  room, 
de  Vieilleville  put  everyone  out  but  the  captain  and 
his  lieutenant  and  then  said  to  the  monk,  "Well! 
Master  Hypocrite!  So  you  have  been  conferring 
with  the  Count  de  Mesgue!  You  must  tell  me 
what  you  have  been  negotiating  with  him  about,  or 
die  at  once.  If  you  will  confess  the  truth  I  will  give 
you  your  life,  even  if  you  have  been  plotting  against 
mine.  You  cannot  go  to  your  monastery.  It  is 
full  of  soldiers  and  all  your  monks  are  prisoners. 
Two  of  them  have  confessed  that  they  are  not  monks 
but  soldiers,  who  came  here  by  order  of  the  Queen 
of  Hungary.  Come,  tell  the  truth  quick,  or  else 
make  your  confessions  to  each  other,  for  you  will 
not  live  an  hour." 

The  poor  guardian  saw,  by  what  the  governor 
said,  that  he  had  a  good  deal  of  light  upon  the  plot ; 
but,  falling  on  his  knees,  he  denied  that  he  had  done 
anything  wrong.  He  said  the  two  men,  of  whom 
the  governor  spoke,  were  relations  of  his,  who  had 

45 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

killed  their  brother  in  a  quarrel  over  the  inheritance, 
and  he  had  brought  them  to  Metz  as  cordeliers  to 
save  them.  "See!"  said  de  Vieilleville,  "how  this 
villain  knows  how  to  disguise  his  plot."  As  he 
said  this,  there  came  a  soldier  from  the  captain, 
whom  he  had  left  in  charge  of  the  monastery,  and 
brought  word  that  there  had  come  there  six  more 
cordeliers  who  all  of  them  wore,  under  their  monk's 
clothes,  doublets  and  breeches  like  soldiers,  and 
that  he  held  them  all  as  prisoners.  "Well!"  said  de 
Vieilleville  to  the  guardian,  "had  these  fellows  too 
killed  their  brother?  I  swear  by  the  living  God 
that  you  shall  tell  at  once  what  is  hid  under  all 
this,  or  I  will  make  you  suffer  well  before  you  die." 
And  he  ordered  at  once  that  the  monk  should  be 
tied  up  until  the  provost  should  come  to  put  him  to 
the  question. 

The  cordelier  seeing  that  he  could  not  escape  and 
that  his  treachery  was  more  than  half  discovered, 
prostrated  himself  again  and  begged  for  pardon, 
saying  that  the  glory  of  the  world  and  ambition  had 
led  him  astray,  but  he  would  tell  the  truth  provided 
it  was  the  governor's  good  pleasure  to  give  him  his 
life.  De  Vieilleville  answered  that  he  would  have 
his  life  and  the  truth  too,  for  he  knew  the  way  to  get 

46 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

it.  Still  if  the  monk  would  swear  to  confess  every- 
thing truly  about  this  whole  enterprise,  he  promised, 
on  the  faith  of  a  gentleman  of  honor,  to  send  him 
back  to  his  own  country  free  and  without  disgrace, 
and  to  pardon  those  whom  he  had  employed  in  the 
matter.  And  he  showed  the  monk  the  letter  of  his 
agent  in  Luxembourg  (at  seeing  which  the  monk  was 
overpowered)  and  told  him  he  himself  had  been  at 
the  gate  as  a  soldier  for  fear  there  should  be  a  failure 
to  catch  him  when  he  came. 

So  the  monk,  as  if  he  was  already  half  condemned, 
began  to  say  that  he  saw  plainly  that  God  was 
helping  the  governor  and  keeping  the  city  for  him, 
for  without  this  information  the  city  would  have 
been  lost  to  the  King  and  won  for  the  emperor  that 
very  day,  for  all  the  troops  mentioned  in  the  letter 
from  Luxembourg  were  only  six  leagues  from  Metz, 
near  Mt.  St.  Jean,  and  were  to  march  thence  without 
stopping,  so  as  to  be  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
before  the  walls  of  the  city  at  Yffroy  Bridge. 

"For,"  said  he,  "I  was  to  set  fire  to  a  hundred  or 
more  houses  on  the  other  side  of  the  city.  And  it 
is  certain  that  everybody  would  have  run  thither 
to  put  the  fire  out,  and  in  the  tumult  and  fright  those 
forces  would  make  the  escalade,  and  the  thirty 

47 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

soldiers  would  help  them  on  one  side  on  the  rampart 
and  my  twenty  monks  on  the  other.  And  they  have 
with  them  twelve  cartloads  of  ladders  of  the  right 
length. " 

Whereupon  de  Vieilleville  ordered  a  captain  to 
take  the  monk  and  keep  him  a  close  prisoner  and 
let  no  one  communicate  with  him,  to  ensure  which 
the  captain  locked  him  up  in  a  wardrobe  in  his  own 
quarters. 

2.   The  Ambuscade 

The  Lion-Fox  came  to  an  instant  determination. 
He  sent  certain  orders  to  his  lieutenant  and  to  six 
captains  of  his  garrison.  He  ordered  a  sergeant- 
major  to  take  fifty  fagots  to  each  of  the  open  spaces 
at  four  of  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  between  6  and  7 
o'clock  that  evening  to  set  fire  to  them  all.  He 
armed  himself  and  with  ten  or  twelve  gentlemen  of 
his  house,  also  armed,  he  went  to  the  Yffroy  Bridge 
gate,  where,  in  a  short  space  of  time,  the  troops 
gathered  whom,  in  obedience  to  his  orders,  the  six 
captains  had  silently  brought  there.  There  were 
three  companies  of  cavalry,  two  hundred  halberdiers 
and  three  hundred  arquebusmen,  with  about 
twenty  drums.  De  Vieilleville  put  himself  at  their 
'48 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

head,  and  led  them  without  sound  of  drum  or  trumpet 
about  a  league  out  from  the  city,  having  with  him 
Captain  la  Plante,  an  excellent  guide  who  knew  the 
whole  region  better  than  the  men  who  lived  there. 
Calling  the  captains  together,  he  told  them  the  plot 
which  he  had  discovered  and  that  the  Imperialists 
were  then,  as  he  believed,  on  the  march  towards 
Metz,  and  that  he  proposed  to  ambush  them  on  the 
way  and  fight  them  even  if  they  were  three  to  one. 
Captain  la  Plante  told  him  he  would  take  them  to  a 
wood  about  a  league  away,  which  was  a  suitable 
place  for  the  ambush.  He  led  them  to  a  village, 
just  beyond  which  was  a  wood  alongside  of  the  road 
for  quite  a  distance,  and  where  several  roads  led  in 
several  directions.  De  Vieilleville  divided  his  small 
force  into  six  detachments.  One  he  put  in  the 
village,  others  he  placed  on  the  side  roads,  a  company 
of  halberd  men  he  hid  in  the  bushes  beside  the  road 
(not  putting  the  arquebuses  there  lest  the  smell  of 
their  matches  should  excite  the  enemies'  attention) 
and  a  company  of  horse  under  his  lieutenant  on 
the  road  towards  the  city,  behind  whom  he  took  his 
own  station  with  forty  horse  and  his  suite.  He 
divided  the  drums  between  the  various  detachments, 
and  he  sent  la  Plante  forward  to  reconnoiter  and 

49 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

report  the  coming  of  the  enemy.  In  about  an  hour 
and  a  half  la  Plante  returned  at  full  speed  and  said 
that  they  were  coming  at  a  rapid  rate,  and  that  they 
must  have  learned  of  the  fire  in  Met/,  for  he  had 
seen  it  himself.  Before  long  the  vanguard  of  the 
Imperialists  entered  the  wood  and  the  halberd  men 
heard  them  talking  to  each  other.  One  said,  "Let 
us  hurry  on!  We  are  late!"  Another,  "Mon 
Dieu,  we  shall  be  rich  today.  What  a  great  service 
we  shall  do  the  emperor."  Another,  "We  shall 
make  him  ashamed,  for  with  three  thousand  men 
we  shall  do  what  he  could  not  do  when  he  besieged 
the  city  with  a  hundred  thousand. "  At  their  head 
marched  arquebusmen  with  the  carts  of  ladders 
and  the  baggage,  behind  them  a  company  of  cavalry 
with  de  Mesgue  at  their  head,  who  was  heard  to 
say,  "We  must  hurry.  I  have  seen  the  light  of  the 
fire.  Our  delay  may  be  a  harm.  March  on! 
March  on!"  Because  of  the  hurry  they  did  not 
keep  their  ranks,  but  marched  pell-mell.  And 
behind  them  came  seven  or  eight  hundred  horsemen 
of  the  nobles  of  the  Low  Countries,  who  were  volun- 
teers. All  were  so  little  on  their  guard  that  the 
nobles  had  given  their  helmets  and  lances  to  their 
valets  to  carry  for  them. 

50 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

Then  all  at  once  the  ambuscade  broke  into  activi- 
ty. The  lieutenant  with  his  cavalry  charged  down 
the  road  from  Metz  upon  them,  the  halberdmen 
sprang  out  of  the  bushes  upon  them;  the  arquebus- 
men  shot  them  down  like  flies,  and  what  with  the 
shouts  of  "France!  France!  Vieilleville!  Charge! 
Charge ! "  on  every  hand  and  the  noise  of  the  guns  and 
the  roar  of  the  drums,  echoed  and  re-echoed  by  the 
depths  of  the  wood,  any  orders  which  the  Count  de 
Mesgue  or  his  captains  gave  could  not  be  heard. 
Whichever  way  the  Imperialists  undertook  to  make 
head  they  were  met  by  a  new  detachment,  and  after 
several  ineffectual  efforts,  the  frightened  men, 
thinking  that  the  whole  garrison  of  Metz  was  upon 
them,  broke  and  ran  in  every  direction  every  man 
for  himself,  while  the  French  pursued  and  cut  them 
down  in  their  flight,  with  terrible  loss.  Eleven 
hundred  and  forty-five  were  left  dead  on  the  spot 
and  four  hundred  were  made  prisoners,  and  the  rest 
scattered  far  and  wide,  with  a  loss  to  the  French  of 
only  fifteen  killed  and  a  very  few  wounded. 

When  the  rout  was  complete,  de  Vieilleville  and 
his  troop  of  cavalry  placed  themselves  on  the  road 
to  Thionville  from  which  place  alone,  about  three 
leagues  away,  could  any  help  come  to  the  defeated 

51 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

host.  They  halted  there  about  an  hour,  while  the 
soldiers  stripped  the  dead,  made  the  prisoners 
secure,  caught  the  horses  that  were  running  wild 
and  took  possession  of  the  baggage  and  the  carts, 
among  which  those  with  the  ladders  were  not  for- 
gotten. The  retreat  was  then  sounded  and  by  the 
light  of  the  moon,  which  was  a  little  past  the  full, 
they  returned  to  the  city  in  good  order.  De  Vieille- 
ville  sent  two  messengers  ahead,  one  to  tell  Madame 
de  Vieilleville  that  she  need  not  be  worried  about 
him,  and  the  other  to  spread  the  news  of  the  victory 
and  have  the  church  bells  rung,  for  it  was  nearly 
midnight,  and  prayers  of  thanksgiving  offered, 
which  was  done.  And  that  night  few  people  in 
Metz  slept  at  all,  for  the  celebrating  of  the  saving 
of  the  city. 

The  next  morning  the  provost  came  to  the  gover- 
nor, with  his  report  in  the  case  of  the  cordeliers,  who 
had  all,  fifty  in  number,  been  found  guilty  of  treason, 
so  that  all  that  remained  to  be  done  was  to  fix  their 
punishment  and  declare  how  and  where  it  should  be 
executed.  But  the  governor  said  he  did  not  think 
it  was  reasonable  that  the  thirty  soldiers  should  die, 
who  had  come  in  under  orders,  though  they  might  be 
hung  as  spies,  inasmuch  as  they  had  come  in  under 

52 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

disguise  as  cordeliers,  and  them  he  would  pardon. 
But  they  must  have  something  to  remember,  and 
therefore  the  provost  must  make  them  march  next 
morning  through  the  city  from  the  cathedral,  three 
by  three,  each  having  a  white  stick  in  his  hand,  his 
head  bare  and  the  cordelier's  habit  over  his  arm.  A 
trumpeter  on  horseback  must  go  before  them  and 
proclaim  that  these  were  the  monks  of  the  Queen 
of  Hungary  who  had  undertaken  the  capture  and 
burning  of  the  city,  but  had  failed,  thanks  to  God, 
and  that  they  were  therefore  banished  forever  from 
the  city  of  Metz,  and  would  be  hung  if  they  were 
ever  caught  there.  And  so  they  were  to  be  brought 
to  the  Yffroy  Bridge  gate  and  put  out  of  the  city. 

Just  then  word  was  brought  to  the  governor  that 
a  trumpeter  had  appeared  before  the  gate  and  had 
blown  three  summonses,  and  it  was  understood  that 
he  had  come  from  the  Count  de  Mesgue.  De  Vieille- 
ville  ordered  him  to  be  brought  in  and  when  he 
appeared  said  to  him,  "Well!  what  says  the  Count 
de  Mesgue?  He  has  had  monk  enough,  has  he 
not? "  The  trumpeter  was  too  abashed  to  reply,  but 
de  Vieilleville  said  to  him, "Speak  up  boldly,  trumpe- 
ter! You  know  that  people  of  your  quality  may 
say  what  they  like.  At  any  rate  I  give  you  leave. " 

53 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

So  the  trumpeter  plucked  up  courage  and  answered, 
"Yes,  by  God,  we  have  had  monk  enough.  And 
may  the  whole  monkery  be  cursed  and  given  to  all 
the  devils,  when  it  undertakes  to  do  anything  but 
say  prayers.  The  count,  my  poor  master,  is  in  bed 
sick  today.  He  said  this  morning  when  he  sent 
me  off,  that  it  was  only  losing  men  to  undertake 
anything  against  that  lion-fox,  de  Vieilleville,  and 
that  it  was  great  folly  in  him  to  have  marched  on  an 
enterprise  got  up  only  by  women  and  monks,  in 
which  he  has  lost  so  many  good,  illustrious  men,  and 
he  would  never  do  it  again.  And  he  has  given  me 
this  list  of  people  of  reputation  to  learn  if  they  are 
dead  or  prisoners." 

So  the  governor  ordered  all  the  prisoners  to  be 
brought  out  into  a  public  square,  and  went  through 
their  ranks  with  the  trumpeter  to  see  if  those  on 
the  list  were  there.  But  he  did  not  find  them  and 
said  that  the  Emperor  had  lost  more  than  thirty  of 
the  great  lords  of  the  Low  Countries  and  the  Empire. 
He  was  kept  in  the  city  till  the  next  morning  to  see 
the  procession  of  the  false  cordeliers,  and  then  he 
departed  taking  with  him  direction  for  the  ransom- 
ing of  those  who  had  been  captured  in  the  fight. 

It  remains  to  tell  the  fate  of  the  cordeliers,  who 
54 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

were  held  in  close  prison,  where  they  had  leisure  to 
reflect  on  their  sins  and  to  indulge  in  the  hope  that, 
at  some  time,  they  would  be  set  free  and  discharged 
of  the  condemnation  for  treason  which  hung  over 
them.  But  it  happened  that  a  very  short  time  after 
this  de  Vieilleville  was  called  to  court,  where  he 
received  great  honors  from  the  King;  and  as  he  was 
to  be  absent  from  Metz  for  some  months,  a  new 
governor  was  sent  there  in  his  place.  As  soon  as 
the  monks  heard  this  they  lost  all  hope,  for  they  had 
no  promise  from  the  new  governor.  And  so  one 
evening  the  provost  came  and  told  them  that  they 
had  better  hear  each  other 's  confessions,  for  the  next 
day  would  be  their  last.  And  in  order  that  they 
might  be  free  to  clear  their  consciences  in  this  way, 
he  took  them  out  of  the  dungeons  and  left  them  all 
together  pell-mell.  But  he  had  no  sooner  gone 
than  they  began  to  berate  the  guardian  and  four 
others  of  the  older  ones,  who  had  helped  him  to 
seduce  them  to  enter  into  the  plot,  telling  them 
with  many  hard  epithets  that  it  was  their  wicked 
ambition  to  be  bishops  and  abbots  that  had  ruined 
them.  One  word  led  to  another  and  finally,  carried 
away  by  rage,  the  sixteen  fell  upon  the  guardian 
and  the  four  with  such  fury  that  the  guardian  died 

55 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

on  the  spot,  and  the  four  were  so  hurt  that  they  had 
to  be  carried  to  the  place  of  execution  the  next 
morning  in  the  cart,  where  they  were  hung  and  ten 
others  with  them,  all  in  their  monk's  robes.  Four 
of  them,  being  young  and  as  it  were,  novices,  made 
their  amends  with  cords  around  their  necks,  torches 
in  their  hands,  barefoot  and  on  their  knees  during 
the  execution,  after  which  they  were  driven  out  of  the 
city  and  sent  to  Flanders  to  tell  the  news  to  the  Queen 
of  Hungary.  King  Henry  thoroughly  approved 
of  this  execution  and  said  he  should  never  forget 
the  day  of  the  ambuscade,  which  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  and  memorable  actions  that  there  had 
been  in  France  for  three  hundred  years.  And  there 
came  out  of  the  affair  a  proverb  for  the  people  of  the 
court,  for,  if  they  saw  pages  or  lackeys  fighting, 
they  said  they  were  hearing  each  other's  confessions 
like  the  cordeliers  of  Metz. 


56 


BAYARD'S  FIRST  TOURNAMENT,  OR 
THE  ABBE'S  OVERSIGHT 

PIERRE  DUTERRAIL,  called  the  Cheva- 
lier Bayard,  from  the  name  of  his  paternal 
estate,  and  the  Good  Chevalier  without 
Fear  and  without  Reproach,  from  the 
excellence  of  his  character,  was  born  in  Dauphiny. 
When  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  his  father,  who  was 
advanced  in  years,  called  his  two  sons  to  him  and 
asked  them  what  they  wished  to  do  with  their  lives. 
George,  the  oldest,  said  he  did  not  want  to  go  away 
from  home,  and  his  father  said,"  Well!  since  you  love 
the  house,  you  shall  stay  here  and  fight  the  bears. " 
Pierre  said  he  wished  to  follow  arms,  as  so  many  of 
his  ancestors  had  done.  The  father  then  called  in 
some  of  his  friends,  among  whom  was  the  bishop 
of  Grenoble,  a  kinsman,  to  take  counsel  as  to  what 
should  be  done.  The  bishop  proposed  that  Pierre 
should  be  offered  as  a  page  to  Charles,  Duke  of 
Savoy,  to  whom  he  would  himself  take  the  boy. 
His  proposal  was  acceptable,  and  the  next  day,  the 
boy  of  thirteen  left  home  and  parents,  in  the  bishop 's 

57 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

train,  and  mounted  on  a  good  horse  which  the 
bishop  had  given  him.  He  had  skill  in  horseman- 
ship, which  attracted  the  attention  and  praise  of 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  who  took  him  as  one  of  his  pages, 
and  afterwards  of  Charles  VIII,  King  of  France, 
to  whom  the  Duke  presented  him.  As  the  old 
Chronicler  says,  he  rode  his  horse  "  as  if  he  had  been 
a  man  of  thirty  years,  one  who  all  his  life  had  seen 
war."  The  King  accepted  him  as  one  of  his  pages, 
but  placed  him  in  the  family  of  the  Seigneur  de 
Ligny  at  Lyons,  where  he  remained  till  he  was 
eighteen  years  old,  when  he  ceased  to  be  a  page  and 
was  counted  as  one  of  de  Ligny 's  company.  Shortly 
afterwards  the  King  came  to  Lyons  and,  while  he 
was  there,  a  Burgundian  noble  called  Claude  de 
Vauldray,  who  was  skilled  in  arms,  came  to  the 
King  and  asked  leave  to  offer  a  jousting  to  the 
young  gentlemen  of  the  court.  The  King  granted 
his  request,  and,  as  was  the  custom  in  such  things, 
de  Vauldray  hung  up  three  shields  at  the  jousting 
place,  one  of  which  was  to  be  touched  by  whoever 
wished  to  compete  with  him  in  the  joust,  whether 
on  horseback  with  headless  lances  or  with  iron- 
pointed  lances  or  on  foot  with  axes,  the  names  of  com- 
petitors being  taken  down  by  Montjoy,  king  of  arms. 

58 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

Now  it  happened,  one  day,  that  Pierre,  with  one 
of  his  companions  named  Bellabre,  passing  by  those 
shields,  showed  such  a  grave  face  that  Bellabre  asked 
him  what  was  the  matter.  He  answered,  "I  would 
like  to  touch  those  shields  of  Messire  Claude,  but  I 
do  not  know  who  would  furnish  me  the  horse  and 
accoutrements  which  I  should  need,  if  I  did." 
Bellabre  said,  "Are  you  anxious  about  that,  my 
friend?  Have  you  not  your  uncle,  the  Abb6  of 
Esnay?  We  will  go  to  him  and  if  he  will  not  furnish 
the  money  that  you  will  need,  we  will  take  his 
cross  and  mitre  off  him.  But  I  think  he  will  do  it 
willingly. "  So  Pierre  went  and  touched  the  shields. 
Montjoy,  when  he  saw  him,  said  in  surprise,  "Why! 
my  friend!  you  have  not  got  a  beard  that  is  three 
years  old,  and  do  you  undertake  the  combat  with 
Messire  Claude,  who  is  one  of  the  stiffest  chevaliers 
that  we  know?"  "Montjoy,  my  friend,"  answered 
he,  "I  do  not  do  it  for  pride  or  vanity,  but  only 
because  I  wish  to  learn  something  from  those  who 
can  teach.  God,  if  He  pleases,  can  grant  me  grace, 
so  that  I  shall  do  something  which  will  please  the 
ladies. "  Thereat  Montjoy  laughed  and  was  content. 

The  next  morning,  the  two  young  men  took  a 
small  boat  and  went  down  the  river  to  Esnay.  The 

59 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

first  man  they  met  there  was  the  abb6  who  was 
walking  in  the  close  with  one  of  the  monks  and  saying 
his  prayers.  He  had  heard  that  his  nephew  had 
touched  the  shields  of  de  Vauldray  and  suspected 
that  he  was  going  to  be  called  on  for  funds,  so  he 
gave  them  not  a  very  cordial  reception,  but  address- 
ing his  nephew  said,  "Ha!  Scapegrace!  who  gave 
you  the  boldness  to  touch  those  shields  of  de  Vaul- 
dray? It  is  not  three  days  since  you  were  a  page 
and  you  are  not  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  old. 
They  ought  to  give  you  the  stick  for  showing  such 
pride."  Pierre  answered,  "I  assure  you,  Monsei- 
gneur,  that  it  was  not  pride  that  made  me  doit. 
The  desire  to  attain  by  virtuous  deeds  to  the  honor 
which  your  predecessors  and  mine  have  reached, 
has  led  me  to  do  it.  And  I  ask  you,  who  are  the 
only  relative  or  friend  to  whom  I  can  have  recourse,  to 
help  me  with  some  money  so  that  I  may  get  what  is 
necessary. " 

"My  faith!"  said  the  abb6,  "you  will  go  else- 
where to  find  someone  to  lend  you  money.  What 
the  founders  of  this  abbey  gave  their  gifts  for  was 
the  service  of  God  and  not  to  be  expended  for  jousts 
and  tourneys." 

"But,  Monseigneur!"  broke  in  Bellabre,  "if  it 
60 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

were  not  for  the  virtues  and  deeds  of  your  prede- 
cessors, you  would  not  be  abb6  of  Esnay.  Your 
nephew  wished  to  get  on  in  the  same  way  and  you 
ought  to  help  him.  It  would  not  cost  you  more 
than  two  hundred  crowns  to  put  him  in  good  shape 
and  he  will  bring  honor  to  you  which  will  be  worth 
more  than  ten  thousand." 

Quite  a  discussion  followed,  but  finally  the  abb6 
yielded  and  agreed  to  help.  He  went  and  got  a 
hundred  crowns,  which  he  gave  to  Bellabre,  saying, 
"There,  young  man,  I  give  you  that  to  buy  a  couple 
of  horses  for  this  valiant  man-at-arms.  His  beard 
is  too  young  for  him  to  handle  money.  And  I  will 
write  to  Laurenien  to  furnish  him  with  what  he 
needs  to  accoutre  himself  for  this  tourney."  "You 
do  well,"  said  Bellabre,  "and  I  assure  you  that,  when 
it  shall  be  known,  everyone  will  honor  you  for  it." 

So  the  abb6  wrote  the  note  for  Laurenien  as  he 
had  said,  and  gave  it  to  them ;  and  the  young  fellows, 
after  thanking  him  very  humbly  for  what  he  had 
done,  returned  to  their  boat  in  great  glee  to  go  back 
to  Lyons.  When  they  had  got  fairly  away,  Bellabre 
said,  "Do  you  know,  my  companion,  that,  when 
God  sends  good  fortune  to  a  man,  he  must  use  it 
wisely  and  well.  What  one  gets  out  of  the  monks 

61 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

is  blessed  bread.  Now  we  have  got  a  letter  to 
Laurenien  telling  him  to  furnish  to  you  what  you 
need,  and  we  must  go  to  him  at  once  before  your 
abb6  thinks  what  he  has  done,  for  he  has  not  put 
in  the  letter  any  limit  on  the  amount  of  the  accoutre- 
ments that  he  is  to  give  you.  By  the  faith  of  my 
body,  you  will  get  enough  for  the  tourney  and  for  a 
year  besides,  or  you  never  ought  to  have  another 
thing." 

Pierre,  with  a  laugh,  said,  "Faith!  that  is  the 
situation.  Now,  we  must  hurry,  for  I  fear  that  the 
abb6  may  see  what  he  has  done  and  send  one  of  his 
people  at  once  to  name  the  amount  to  which  he 
means  me  to  be  supplied."  So  they  hurried  the 
boatman  and  went  straight  to  Laureniens'  shop. 
He  was  a  very  honest  and  good  merchant.  After 
they  had  saluted  each  other,  Bellabre  said  to  him, 
"By  my  soul,  Sire  Laurenien,  my  companion  and  I 
have  just  come  from  seeing  a  good  abb6,  Monseigneur 
Esnay. "  "That  he  is,"  said  Laurenien,  "and  I  am 
one  of  his  good  servants.  I  have  dealt  with  him  up 
to  twenty  thousand  francs,  and  I  never  found  a 
rounder  man."  "But  you  do  not  know,"  said 
Bellabre,  "what  a  good  thing  he  has  done  for  his 
nephew,  my  companion  here.  He  has  learned  that 

62 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

Pierre  had  touched  the  shield  of  Messire  Claude  de 
Vauldray,  because  lie  wished  to  gain  honor,  as  his 
ancestors  had.  We  went  to  see  the  abb6  this 
morning  and  he  gave  his  nephew  three  hundred 
crowns  to  buy  horses;  and  besides,  in  order  that 
there  shall  not  be  any  man  in  the  company  better 
fitted  out,  he  gave  us  a  letter  to  you,  to  furnish  him 
whatever  will  be  necessary."  They  showed  the 
letter  and  he,  knowing  the  abbe's  signature,  said, 
"  I  assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  there  is  nothing  here 
which  is  not  at  your  service."  So  he  showed  them 
cloth  of  gold,  cloth  of  silver,  brocaded  satins,  velvets 
and  silks,  of  which  they  selected  as  much  as  came  to 
seven  or  eight  hundred  francs,  and  they  then  took 
leave  of  him  and  sent  at  once  to  get  tailors  to  make 
up  the  goods,  for  it  was  only  three  days  to  the 
tourney,  and  there  were  six  suits  to  be  made,  because 
Pierre  wanted  his  companion  to  wear  the  same 
costume  as  himself. 

Then  Bellabre  said  that  they  must  get  horses  and 
he  knew  a  man  who  had  two  which  he  thought  would 
do,  and  he  thought  the  man  would  be  glad  to  sell, 
because  he  had  broken  his  leg  a  few  days  ago.  So 
they  went  and  saw  the  man  and  found  that  he  would 
sell,  tried  the  horses  and  found  them  satisfactory, 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

and  gave  him  for  two  a  hundred  and  twenty  crowns 
and  ten  for  a  tip  to  the  servant. 

Now  it  happened  that  the  abb6  of  Esnay  had 
company  to  dinner  that  day,  and  during  the  dinner 
he  remarked  to  one  of  his  friends,  "I  had  a  terrible 
squeeze  this  morning.  That  boy,  my  nephew,  de 
Bayard,  has  been  so  foolish  as  to  touch  the  shields 
of  Messire  Claude,  and  he  came  to  me  this  morning 
to  ask  money  to  get  an  outfit.  So  I  am  out  a 
hundred  crowns,  and  besides  that  I  gave  him  an 
order  on  Laurenien  to  give  him  what  he  should  want 
for  an  outfit."  The  Sacristan,  who  was  one  of  the 
company,  said,  "On  my  faith,  Monseigneur!  you 
have  done  a  good  thing.  Your  nephew  wants  to 
follow  in  the  steps  of  your  grandfather  who  was  a 
valiant  man-of-arms,  as  were  his  relatives.  I  see 
only  one  thing  that  is  bad  about  it.  You  have 
written  to  Laurenien,  you  say,  to  give  him  what  he 
shall  ask  for,  and  I  am  sure  that  Laurenien  would 
do  it,  if  he  asked  for  two  thousand  crowns'  worth. 
I  am  afraid  that  he  may  get  more  than  you  meant 
he  should."  The  abb6  caught  at  the  remark  and 
said,  "By  St.  Jacques,  Sacristan!  you  are  right,  for 
I  did  not  put  in  any  limit.  Call  the  steward!" 
The  steward  came  and  the  abb6  said  to  him,  "Some- 

64 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

one  else  will  attend  to  serving  us.  Do  you  go  to  the 
city  to  Laurenien  at  once,  and  tell  him  that  I  wrote 
him  this  morning  to  give  some  things  to  my  nephew, 
de  Bayard,  to  fit  him  out  for  Messire  Claude's 
tourney,  and  that  he  must  give  him  not  more  than 
a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  twenty  francs'  worth. 
And  don't  delay."  The  steward  hastened  to 
Laurenien,  whom  he  found  at  table  and  who  gave 
him  welcome  and  said  to  him,  "You  have  come  at 
the  right  time.  Wash  your  hands  and  do  as  we  are 
doing."  The  steward  thanked  him,  but  said  he 
had  not  come  for  that,  but  about  the  letter  which 
the  abbe"  had  given  him  telling  him  to  furnish  an 
outfit  for  his  nephew.  Laurenien  interrupted  him, 
"I  have  done  it  already,"  said  he.  "I  assure  you 
that  I  have  put  him  in  good  order.  He  is  a  very 
honorable  young  gentleman  and  Monseigneur  does 
well  to  help  him."  "How  much  have  you  let  him 
have?"  said  the  steward.  "I  do  not  know,"  said 
he,  "without  looking  at  my  list  and  the  receipt  on 
the  back  of  the  monseigneur 's  letter.  But  I  should 
think  it  was  about  eight  hundred  francs."  "By 
our  Lady,  you  have  spoiled  it  all, "  cried  the  steward. 
"How  so?"  said  Laurenien.  "Because,"  said  he, 
"my  master  sends  word  to  you  by  me  not  to  let 

65 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

him  have  more  than  an  hundred  or  an  hundred  and 
twenty  francs."  "His  letter  did  not  say  so,"  said 
Laurenien.  "And  if  he  had  asked  for  more  than 
that,  he  should  have  had  it,  for  that  was  what  the 
letter  said."  "Well!  it  cannot  be  helped  now," 
said  the  steward,  and  back  he  went  to  the  abbe"  and 
said,  "I  was  too  late.  Your  nephew  had  already 
made  his  trade  and  has  only  taken  goods  worth 
eight  hundred  francs."  "Eight  hundred  francs! 
eight  hundred  francs!"  said  the  abbe".  "What  a 
young  reprobate!  But  you  know  where  he  lives. 
Go  and  tell  him  if  he  does  not  quickly  give  back  to 
Laurenien  what  he  has  got,  he  shall  never  be  a 
penny  the  better  for  me. "  Back  went  the  steward, 
but  the  young  fellow  had  expected  such  a  thing  and 
had  given  orders  that,  if  any  one  from  the  abbe"  of 
Esnay  asked  for  him,  they  must  make  some  excuse, 
so  that  he  should  not  see  him.  So  when  the  steward 
came  he  was  told  that  Bayard  was  with  Sire  de  Ligny, 
and  the  next  time  that  he  had  gone  across  the 
river  to  look  at  some  horses  and  so  on.  So  at  last 
he  went  back  to  the  abbe  and  told  him  it  was  lost 
time  to  hunt  for  Bayard,  for  he  had  been  there 
ten  times  without  finding  him  and  he  was  surely 
keeping  out  of  the  way.  "By  my  oath,"  said 

06 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

the  abb6,  "he  is  a    bad    boy.     But    he    will    be 
sorry    for  it." 

So  the  day  of  the  tourney  came,  and  Bayard  and 
his  companion  appeared  in  all  the  splendor  of  their 
borrowed  plumage,  at  which  also  appeared  many 
young  gallants  of  the  court.  "The  good  chevalier," 
says  the  chronicler,  "who  in  his  eighteenth  year  was 
still  very  young,  for  he  had  not  got  his  growth  and 
was  naturally  pale  and  thin,  put  himself  among  the 
rest  and  there  made  his  first  essay  at  arms,  which  was 
a  hard  beginning,  for  he  had  to  do  with  one  of  the 
most  skilled  and  practiced  chevaliers  in  the  world. 
But  I  do  not  know  how  it  was,  whether  God  wished 
him  to  have  praise  or  whether  Messire  Claude  de 
Vauldray  took  pleasure  in  him,  but  there  was  no 
one  in  the  whole  tourney,  whether  on  horseback  or 
on  foot,  who  did  so  well  or  better  than  he  did.  And 
the  ladies  of  Lyons  gave  him  praise  for  it,  for  as  he 
rode  round  the  lists,  after  he  had  done  his  devoir, 
with  his  face  uncovered,  the  ladies  said,  "See  that 
little  fellow!  He  has  done  better  than  all  the  rest. " 
And  good  King  Charles  at  supper  said,  "By  the 
faith  of  my  body,  Bayard  has  made  a  beginning, 
from  which  I  think  he  will  make  a  good  ending," 
and  turning  to  the  Sire  de  Ligny  he  said,  "My 

67 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

cousin,  I  never  made  so  good  a  present  in  my  life  as 
when  I  gave  him  to  you."  And  de  Ligny  replied, 
"Sire,  if  he  is  a  good  man  you  will  have  greater 
honor  than  I,  for  the  praise  you  have  given  him  has 
made  him  undertake  this.  God  grant  that  he  may 
continue.  But  his  uncle,  the  abbe"  of  Esnay,  does 
not  take  much  pleasure  in  it,  because  he  got  his 
whole  outfit  on  the  abbess  credit."  And  the  King, 
who  had  heard  the  story,  laughed,  and  so  did  all 
the  company. 


68 


THE  CHIVALRY  OF  CHEVALIER  BAYARD 

IN  the  wars  between  the  King  of  France  and 
the  Emperor  in  the  first  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  city  of  Brescia,  in  the  north  of 
Italy,  which  had  been  held  by  the  French,  was 
taken  by  the  Venitians  who  were  allied  with  the 
Emperor,  in  the  following  way.  Two  children,  a 
child  of  the  Count  of  Gambre  and  one  of  the  Count 
of  Advogadre,  quarrelled,  and  the  child  of  the 
Count  of  Gambre  hurt  the  other  grievously.  The 
Count  of  Advogadre  went  to  Milan  to  the  Duke  de 
Nemours,  who  was  ruling  for  the  French  in  that 
part  of  Italy,  to  seek  redress.  It  was  promised  to 
him,  but,  as  the  Countess  of  Gambre  was  a  French 
woman,  nothing  was  done  about  it,  and  Advogadre 
in  his  anger  went  secretly  to  Venice  and  offered  to 
put  the  Venitians  in  the  way  of  capturing  the  city. 
And  he  having  agreed  with  them,  on  a  certain 
morning  at  dawn  of  day,  a  force  of  seven  or  eight 
thousand  Venitians  surprised  the  French  garrison 
in  the  city  and,  with  the  help  of  the  Advogadre 
faction,  which  he  had  roused  up,  captured  it.  The 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

French  commander  betook  himself  and  what  force 
he  could  hastily  collect  to  the  citadel,  where  also  the 
Countess  of  Gambre  took  refuge  with  her  family. 
It  was  well  that  she  did  so,  for  the  first  thing  that 
Advogadre  did  was  to  destroy  all  the  houses  of 
Gambre  and  his  faction.  The  commander  of  the 
Venitians  laid  strict  siege  to  the  citadel,  and  pressed 
it  so  closely  that  the  French  in  it  sent  word  to  the 
Duke  de  Nemours  at  Milan,  that,  if  they  were  not 
relieved  within  eight  days,  they  would  be  compelled 
to  surrender, 

As  soon  as  the  capture  of  the  city  had  been  made 
known  to  the  Duke  de  Nemours,  he  made  all  possible 
haste  to  gather  forces  to  retake  it  before  the  Venitians 
in  it  should  be  reinforced.  And  on  the  other  hand 
the  Venitian  captain-general  at  once  marched  with 
a  force  of  four  hundred  men-at-arms  and  four  thou- 
sand foot  to  give  such  reinforcement.  But  on  the 
way  he  stopped  to  take  a  small  castle  which  was  held 
by  the  French,  and  the  Duke  de  Nemours,  making  a 
forced  march  of  thirty  miles  in  the  depth  of  winter, 
fell  upon  the  Venitian  force  and  routed  it,  and  two 
days  after  entered  the  citadel  of  Brescia  and  prepared 
from  that  vantage-ground,  to  storm  the  city  itself. 
Before  making  the  assault,  the  Duke  sent  an  offer 

70 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

to  the  Venitians  that  if  they  would  give  up  the 
city,  they  might  go  with  their  lives  saved.  The 
citizens  would  gladly  have  had  the  offer  accepted, 
but  the  Venitian  leader,  having  a  force  of  seven 
thousand  soldiers,  declined  the  offer.  The  assault 
was  made  at  once  and  the  Frenchmen  took  Brescia 
by  storm  and  sacked  it  without  mercy.  It  is  diffi- 
cult for  us  in  these  days  to  form  any  adequate  idea 
of  what  the  storming  and  sacking  of  a  city  was 
three  hundred  or  one  hundred  years  ago.  Napier 
in  his  "History  of  the  Peninsular  War,"  telling  of 
the  capture  of  Badajos  by  the  British,  gives  the 
following  dreadful  picture  of  it. 

"Now  commenced  that  wild,  desperate  wicked- 
ness, which  tarnished  the  lustre  of  the  soldier's 
heroism.  All  indeed  were  not  alike,  for  hundreds 
risked  and  many  lost  their  lives  in  striving  to  stop 
the  violence;  but  the  madness  generally  prevailed, 
and  as  the  worst  men  were  leaders  here,  all  the 
dreadful  passions  of  human  nature  were  displayed. 
Shameless  rapacity,  brutal  intemperance,  savage 
lust,  cruelty  and  murder,  shrieks  and  piteous  lamen- 
tations, groans,  shouts  and  imprecations,  the  hissing 
of  fires  bursting  from  the  houses,  the  crashing  of 
doors  and  windows  and  the  reports  of  muskets 

71 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

used  in  violence,  resounded  for  two  days  and  nights 
in  the  streets  of  Badajos. " 

To  have  an  idea  of  the  fury  of  the  storming  of 
Brescia,  let  any  one  add  to  Napier's  picture  two 
facts,  viz:  that  the  plunder  of  that  city  was  estimated 
at  three  millions  of  crowns,  and  that,  during  the 
three  days  which  were  given  to  the  purifying  of  the 
city  after  the  storming,  more  than  twenty-two 
thousand  dead  bodies,  of  the  citizens  as  well  as  of 
the  Venitian  soldiers,  were  removed  from  the  streets. 

Against  this  lurid  picture,  the  action  of  the 
Chevalier  Bayard,  "the  good  chevalier,  without 
fear  and  without  reproach,"  shines  in  brilliant 
contrast.  He  had  been  a  leader  in  the  attack,  and 
in  a  hand  to  hand  fight,  after  he  had  passed  the 
rampart  into  the  city,  he  was  struck  by  a  pike  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  thigh.  The  blow  broke  off  the 
pike,  leaving  the  iron  point  and  part  of  the  shaft  in 
the  wound.  His  companions,  urged  forward  by 
him,  left  him  in  the  charge  of  two  of  his  archers, 
who  stanched  the  wound  as  well  as  they  could, 
tearing  up  their  shirts  for  the  purpose.  They  took 
a  door  from  a  house  near  by  and,  laying  him  on  it, 
with  some  other  help  carried  him  to  the  best  appear- 
ing house  in  the  neighborhood.  It  belonged  to  a 

7* 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

rich  gentleman,  who  had  fled  to  take  refuge  in  a 
monastery.  But  his  wife  had  remained  in  the  house 
with  two  beautiful  daughters,  who  had  hidden 
themselves  under  some  straw  in  a  granary.  When 
the  bearers  of  the  chevalier  knocked  at  the  door 
the  lady  came  herself  and  opened  it.  He  was 
brought  in  and  he  placed  the  two  archers  at  the  door, 
with  strict  orders  to  let  no  one  enter  except  the 
chevalier's  own  people.  The  lady  came  to  him, 
when  he  had  been  carried  to  a  room,  and  told  him 
that  the  house  and  all  its  contents  were  his,  but  she 
besought  him  to  spare  the  honor  and  the  lives  of 
herself  and  her  two  daughters.  He  assured  her 
that,  as  long  as  he  should  live,  neither  she  nor 
her  daughters  should  suffer  any  discourtesy,  but  the 
girls  must  keep  to  their  room  and  not  be  seen.  He 
asked  her  to  send  for  a  surgeon,  and  she  at  once 
went  with  one  of  the  archers  and  brought  one,  who 
lived  only  two  doors  away.  After  he  had  examined 
the  wound,  the  chevalier  directed  him  to  pull  the 
iron  out.  He  replied,  "I  am  afraid  you  will  faint 
away."  "No,"  said  the  chevalier,  "I  shall  not; 
I  have  known  before  this  what  it  is  to  have  an  iron 
drawn  out  of  human  flesh — pull  boldly!"  So 
they  pulled  it  out  though  the  pain  was  severe,  and 

73 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

all  were  delighted  to  find  that  no  artery  or  large 
vein  was  injured.  The  wound  was  carefully  dressed, 
and  the  chevalier  remained  under  the  surgeon's 
care  for  a  month  or  six  weeks  before  he  was  sufficiently 
recovered  to  mount  a  horse.  During  this  time  he 
found  out  from  the  lady  whither  her  husband  had 
betaken  himself,  and  sent  for  him  and  brought  him 
home  in  safety.  The  lady  and  her  daughters 
not  only  took  all  possible  care  of  him  but  they 
helped  him  to  pass  the  weary  hours,  for  as  the 
chronicler  says,  the  girls  "were  very  beautiful, 
good  and  well  taught,  and  knew  well  how  to  sing 
and  play  on  the  lute  and  the  spinet  and  to  do  good 
work  with  the  needle. " 

The  enforced  confinement  of  the  chevalier  was 
heavier  upon  him  because  he  knew  that  the  French 
and  Spanish  armies  were  approaching  each  other; 
and  the  thought  that  a  battle  might  be  fought 
without  his  having  part  in  it  was  very  grievous  to  him. 
He  had  told  the  Duke  de  Nemours  that  he  would 
be  there  whenever  it  should  come,  if  he  had  to  be  car- 
ried in  a  litter.  At  last  the  surgeon  told  him  that 
his  wound  was  so  far  cured  that  he  could  ride  a  horse, 
though  it  would  need  constant  attention  and  care; 
and  the  chevalier  determined  to  start  in  two  days. 

74 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

The  chronicler  tells  the  rest  of  the  story  as  follows: 
"The  lady  of  the  house  with  her  husband  and 
children,  considered  themselves  as  his  prisoners 
and  that,  if  he  chose  to  hold  them  to  ransom,  he 
might  well  demand  of  them  ten  or  twelve  thousand 
crowns.  So  on  the  morning  of  the  day  of  his  depart- 
ure, the  lady  came  to  his  room  with  a  servant  who 
carried  a  small  steel  box.  She  found  him  sitting  in 
a  chair  and  threw  herself  on  her  knees  before  him, 
but  he  raised  her  and  would  not  listen  to  her  till 
she  was  seated  near  him.  Then  she  said,  'Monsei- 
gneur !  the  grace  which  God  showed  to  me,  when  the 
city  was  taken,  in  sending  you  to  my  house,  has  been 
no  less  than  the  saving  of  the  lives  of  my  husband 
and  myself  and  of  our  two  daughters,  and  of  their 
honor,  which  they  should  hold  more  dear.  And 
moreover  since  you  have  been  here,  there  has  been 
no  injury  done  to  any  of  us  or  to  the  least  of  my 
people,  and  your  people  have  not  taken  anything 
without  paying  for  it.  Now,  sir,  we  know  that  we 
are  your  prisoners,  with  all  that  is  here,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  at  your  pleasure.  But,  knowing  the  noble- 
ness of  your  heart,  which  no  other  can  equal,  I  have 
come  to  ask  you  very  humbly  to  have  pity  on  us. 
And  here  is  a  small  present  which  I  have  brought, 

75 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

and  which  I  trust  you  will  please  to  accept.' 
"Then  she  took  the  box  from  the  servant  and 
opened  it  before  him,  and  he  saw  it  was  full  of  bright 
ducats.  The  gentle  chevalier,  who  never  cared 
much  about  money,  asked  her  with  a  laugh  how 
many  ducats  there  were.  The  poor  woman,  afraid 
lest  he  was  angry  at  seeing  so  few,  said  'Sir,  there 
are  only  two  thousand  five  hundred,  but  if  you  are 
not  satisfied  we  can  find  more  for  you/  'Madam!' 
said  he,  'if  you  should  give  me  a  hundred  thousand 
crowns,  you  would  not  do  me  so  much  good  as  you 
have  done  by  the  good  cheer  which  I  have  had  here 
and  the  good  society  which  you  have  given  me.  I 
assure  you  that  wherever  I  may  be,  as  long  as  I  live, 
you  will  have  a  gentleman  at  your  command.  As 
for  your  ducats,  I  do  not  wish  them,  thank  you; 
take  them  back.  I  have  always  loved  people  much 
more  than  ducats.  And  never  think  but  that  I  go 
away  as  satisfied  with  you  as  if  you  had  given  me 
the  whole  city.'  The  good  lady  was  much  aston- 
ished at  this  refusal,  and  threw  herself  again  on  her 
knees  and  said,  'Monseigneur!  I  should  always  think 
myself  the  most  unhappy  woman  in  the  world,  if 
you  gave  so  little  importance  to  the  present  which 
I  make  to  you,  which  is  as  nothing  in  comparison 

76 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

with  the  courtesy  which  you  have  already  shown 
me  and  are  showing  me  now  by  your  great  goodness. ' 
When  the  good  chevalier  saw  her  so  firm  and  that 
she  persisted  in  making  the  present,  he  said,  'Well 
then,  madam!  I  take  it  for  the  love  of  you;  but  go 
and  bring  me  your  two  daughters,  for  I  wish  to  say 
adieu  to  them.'  The  poor  woman,  who  thought 
she  was  in  paradise  since  her  present  had  been 
accepted,  went  to  get  the  girls.  While  she  was  gone 
the  chevalier  made  three  parcels  of  the  ducats,  two 
of  one  thousand  each  and  one  of  five  hundred.  When 
the  girls  came  they  also  threw  themselves  on  then- 
knees,  but  were  at  once  raised,  and  the  eldest  of 
them  said,  'Monseigneur!  these  two  poor  maidens, 
to  whom  you  have  done  so  much  honor  as  to  keep 
them  from  all  injury,  have  come  to  take  leave  of  you, 
thanking  your  lordship  very  humbly  for  the  favor 
which  they  have  received,  for  which  they  will  be 
always  bound  to  pray  to  God  for  you,  which  is  all 
that  is  in  their  power.' 

"The  good  chevalier,  almost  with  tears  hi  his 
eyes  as  he  saw  so  much  sweetness  and  humility  in 
the  two  beautiful  girls,  answered,  'Young  ladies! 
you  are  doing  what  I  ought  to  do,  that  is,  to  thank 
you  for  the  good  company  which  you  have  been  to 

77 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

me,  for  which  I  feel  very  much  obliged.  You  know 
that  soldiers  are  not  apt  to  be  supplied  with  fine 
things  to  give  to  ladies,  and  I  am  very  sorry  that  I 
am  not  so  well  supplied  as  to  make  you  such  a 
present  as  I  feel  bound  to  do.  But  your  lady  mother 
has  given  me  two  thousand  five  hundred  ducats, 
which  you  see  on  the  table.  I  give  to  each  of  you 
one  thousand  of  them  as  a  dowry,  and  for  my  recom- 
pense, please  to  pray  to  God  for  me.  I  ask  nothing 
else. '  And  he  put  the  ducats  in  their  hands,  whether 
they  would  or  no.  Then  turning  to  his  hostess,  he 
said,  'Madam!  I  will  take  these  five  hundred  ducats 
for  my  own  to  apply  them  to  the  relief  of  poor  nuns 
who  have  been  pillaged.  And  I  give  you  the  care 
of  them,  for  you  will  know  where  is  the  need  of  help 
better  than  any  other.  And  with  that  I  take  my 
leave  of  you."  So  he  took  each  of  them  by  the 
hand  in  the  fashion  of  Italy,  and  they  all  fell  on  their 
knees,  weeping  as  if  they  were  about  to  be  led  out  to 
death.  And  the  lady  said,  'Oh!  Flower  of  Chivalry! 
to  whom  no  one  can  be  compared !  May  the  Blessed 
Saviour  and  Redeemer,  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffered 
passion  and  death  for  all  sinners,  reward  you  in  this 
world  and  in  the  other.'  And  then  they  retired  to 
their  chambers.  It  was  time  for  dinner.  The 

78 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

gentleman  also  came  to  his  room  and  thanked  him  a 
thousand  times,  offering  him  his  person  and  his  goods 
to  dispose  of  as  his  own,  as  he  pleased.  The  good 
chevalier  thanked  him  and  made  him  dine  with 
him;  and  it  was  not  long  after  dinner  before  he 
ordered  the  horses.  As  he  came  out  of  his  room  to 
take  horse,  the  two  beautiful  daughters  came,  and 
each  of  them  gave  him  a  present  which  she  had 
worked  during  his  malady.  One  was  two  pretty 
little  bracelets,  worked  with  hair  and  thread  of  gold 
and  silver,  and  the  other  was  a  purse  of  beautiful 
satin,  beautifully  worked.  The  chevalier  thanked 
them  heartily  and  said  that  the  presents,  coming 
from  such  hands,  were  worth  to  him  ten  thousand 
crowns.  And  to  do  them  more  honor,  he  put  the 
bracelets  on  his  arm,  and  the  purse  in  his  sleeve, 
and  said  that  he  would  wear  them  as  long  as  they 
lasted,  for  the  love  of  them. 

"Then  the  good  chevalier  took  horse.  He  was 
accompanied  by  his  great  friend,  Seigneur  D ' Aubigny, 
whom  the  Duke  de  Nemours  had  left  in  command 
in  the  city,  and  by  two  or  three  thousand  other 
gentlemen  who  rode  with  him,  two  or  three  miles, 
and  then  said  adieu  and  returned  to  Brescia,  while 
the  good  chevalier  rode  on  to  the  camp  of  the  French 

79 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

army,  where  he  was  received  by  the  Duke  de  Nemours 
and  the  whole  army,  with  as  much  joy  as  if  the 
army  had  been  reinforced  by  ten  thousand  men." 


80 


SMALL  THINGS  SHOW  THE  CHARACTER 

ONE  day  a  Spanish  ambassador,  con- 
versing with  King  Henry  IV,  of  France, 
said  to  him  that  he  would  be  glad  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  King's  ministers, 
so  that  he  might  address  each  one  of  them  according 
to  his  character.  "  I  will  make  you  acquainted  with 
them  on  the  spot, "  said  the  King.  The  three  minis- 
ters were  in  the  ante-chamber,  waiting  for  the  hour 
for  the  council.  The  King  called  in  Chancellor  de 
Sillery,  and  said  to  him,  "Mons.  Chancellor,  I  am 
troubled  to  see  above  my  head  a  plank  of  the  ceiling 
which  is  in  bad  condition,  and  threatens  injury." 
"Sire,"  said  the  Chancellor,  "the  architects  must  be 
consulted.  They^must  examine  everything  and 
have  work  done  if  it  is  needed.  But  we  do  not  need 
to  be  in  haste  about  it.  " 

The  Chancellor  was  sent  out,  and  the  King  had  M. 
de  Villeroy  come  in  and  said  the  same  thing  to  him. 
He,  without  even  looking  at  the  plank,  said,  "You 
are  quite  right,  Sire!  That  is  a  thing  to  cause  fear. " 

81 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

After  he  had  gone  out,  in  came  President  Jeannin, 
and  he  gave  a  very  different  answer  to  the  same 
remark.  "Sire,"  said  he,  "I  don't  know  what  you 
mean.  That  plank  is  all  right."  "But,"  said  the 
king,  "do  I  not  see  cracks  up  there?  Do  my  eyes 
deceive  me?  "  "  Come,  come,  Sire, "  answered  Jean- 
nin, "you  can  rest  in  quiet.  Your  plank  will  last 
longer  than  you  will. " 

When  the  three  ministers  had  departed,  the  King 
said  to  the  ambassador,  "Now  you  know  what  they 
are.  The  chancellor  never  knows  what  he  wants 
to  do.  Villeroy  always  says  that  I  am  right.  Jean- 
nin says  just  what  he  thinks,  and  he  always  thinks 
well.  He  does  not  flatter  me,  as  you  see. " 


DE  PONTIS 


THE  Sieur  de  Pontis  was  born  in  Provence 
in  the  year  1583.  He  died  on  June  14, 
1670,  at  the  age  of  87  years.  At  the  age 
of  14,  he  entered  upon  the  career  of  a 
soldier.  He  served  for  56  years,  during  which  he 
held  various  grades  and  received  seventeen  wounds. 
He  filled  various  offices  under  three  kings,  Henry  IV» 
Louis  XIII  and  Louis  XIV,  and  was  held  in  great 
esteem,  especially  by  Louis  XIII,  who  kept  him 
near  his  person  for  a  large  part  of  his  reign.  Cardi- 
nal Richelieu,  recognizing  his  ability,  tried  to  detach 
him  from  the  service  of  the  King  and  induce  him  to 
enter  into  his  own  service,  but  was  unable  to  weaken 
his  fidelity  to  the  King,  and,  taking  umbrage  at  his 
ill-success,  became  hostile  and  for  years  interfered 
with  de  Pontis'  advancement. 

When  de  Pontis  was  70  years  old,  the  sudden 
death  of  a  near  friend,  apparently  from  a  stroke 
of  lightning,  compelled  him  to  a  review  of  his  past 
life,  and  finally  to  his  leaving  the  court  and  the 

83 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

military  life.  He  says  in  his  memoirs,  "I  began  to 
reflect  on  my  past  life  and  to  look  with  astonishment 
at  all  the  time  of  fifty-six  years,  which  I  had  employed 
with  so  much  ardor,  in  wars  and  at  the  court,  to 
gain  a  fleeting  fortune,  without  ever  thinking  of  the 
other  life,  and  without  being  in  the  least  impressed 
at  heart  by  death  which  was  continually  presented 
to  my  eyes  in  the  army.  I  began  to  consider  all 
the  perils  to  which  I  had  been  exposed  through  all 
that  time;  and  my  eyes  being  opened  to  that 
infinite  mercy  of  my  God,  which  had  saved  me  from 
death  thousands  of  times,  to  give  me  time  at  last 
to  seek  my  salvation,  I  found  myself  overwhelmed 
by  the  sight  of  so  many  favors,  which  appeared  to 
me  as  innumerable  as  had  been  all  the  moments  of 
my  life,  each  of  which,  as  I  saw  plainly,  might  have 
been  my  last." 

Thus  de  Pontis  experienced  a  real  conversion. 
He  left  the  army  and  the  court.  He  joined  himself 
to  the  Jamsenists  and  for  seventeen  years  he  lived 
a  retired,  almost  a  solitary  life.  During  this  time 
he,  with  the  help  of  one  of  his  companions,  wrote 
the  memoirs  of  his  life  before  his  retirement.  He 
closes  them  in  these  pious  words : 

"I  enjoy  in  my  solitude,  at  every  moment,  the 
84 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

pleasure  that  there  is  in  living  in  a  holy  repose,  far 
removed  from  the  tumult  and  the  vanity  of  the 
age,  without  any  other  occupation  than  that  of 
preparing  myself  for  my  death,  by  trying  to  give  to 
God  a  satisfaction  for  my  crimes  and  trying  in  some 
sort  to  repair  the  loss  of  so  many  years.  Now  it  is 
that  I  see,  by  my  own  experience,  that  the  yoke  of 
the  Lord  is  sweeter  and  easier  to  bear  than  that  of 
the  world.  I  see  how  many  more  charms  has  soli- 
tude than  society.  I  see  how  much  even  the  bitter- 
ness, which  I  have  tasted  in  all  the  different  employ- 
ments of  war  and  of  the  court,  contributes  to  make 
one  find  consolation  and  joy  in  the  different  exercises 
of  a  retired  and  Christian  life.  Now,  comparing 
the  services  which  I  have  rendered  to  several  Kings 
with  that  which  I  am  seeking  to  render  to  the 
Sovereign  Lord  of  Kings  and  peoples,  considering 
the  infinite  difference  which  there  is  between  God 
and  the  greatest  princes,  and  the  inestimable  happi- 
ness, which,  contrary  to  human  appearance,  has 
been  given  to  me,  to  be  able  at  last  to  know  the 
grandeur  and  glory  of  God,  I  cannot  weary  of 
repeating  every  hour  these  divine  words  which  are 
every  day  chanted  in  the  church,  'To  the  King 
immortal  and  invisible,  the  only  God,  be  honor  and 

85 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

glory,  throughout  all  the  ages,  Amen.'  And  as  I 
have  said  that  the  thought  of  death  is  now  the  only 
occupation  of  my  mind,  I  have  taken  for  my  motto 
and  the  subject  for  reflection  in  my  solitude,  these 
four  lines  which  a  friend  of  mine  has  been  so  kind 
as  to  give  me: 

"  'Far  from  the  court  and  war's  alarms, 

In  this  retreat  I  learn  to  die. 
Who  dies  not  a  long  death  on  earth 

Will  never  live  beyond  the  sky.'  " 


86 


A  DIVINATION  OF  NOSTRADAMUS 

I  knew,  said  de  Pontis,  very  well  the  nephew  of 
Nostradamus,  and  he  told  me  the  following, 
which  seems  to  me  worth  considering,  about  a 
governor  of  Aignes  Mortes:  The  wife  of  this 
governor  did  not  conduct  herself  with  the  fidelity 
which  she  owed  to  her  husband ;  and,  having  had  the 
ill  fortune  to  please  a  constable  of  France,  she  allowed 
him  to  come  and  see  her  a  little  too  often  for  her  honor. 
The  governor,  having  got  wind  of  it,  wished  to  avenge 
himself  on  the  constable  at  the  expense  of  the  King, 
and  resolved  to  treat  with  Spain  to  put  the  place 
into  the  Spaniards'  hands.  He  wrote  about  it  to  the 
King  of  Spain  and  entered  into  negotiations  with 
him.  But  before  carrying  out  his  design,  as  Nos- 
tradamus was  celebrated  through  all  France  for  his 
predictions,  he  determined  to  go  and  consult  him  in 
a  village  province  where  he  lived,  and  told  his  wife 
before  he  started  that  he  was  going  on  a  journey 
and  should  be  gone  fifteen  days.  As  he  went  to 
mount  his  horse  and  had  got  one  foot  in  the  stirrup 

87 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

he  turned  to  say  adieu  to  his  wife  and,  rising  on  the 
stirrup,  the  stirrup  leather  broke  and  he  fell  and 
came  near  breaking  his  neck.  On  his  journey  he 
came  to  the  river  Durance,  and  as  he  entered  the 
boat  to  cross  it,  he  made  a  mis-step  and  fell  into  the 
water  and  came  very  near  being  drowned.  As  he 
was  within  two  or  three  posts  of  the  village  to  which 
he  was  going,  the  post  horse  which  he  was  riding  all 
at  once  began  to  rear  and  plunge  and  kick  as  if  he 
were  mad.  The  governor  berated  the  postillion 
for  having  given  him  such  a  bad  animal;  but  the 
postillion  said  it  was  the  best  horse  in  the  stable, 
and  took  the  horse  by  the  bridle  and  succeeded  in 
quieting  him.  Arrived  at  the  house  where  Nostra- 
damus lived,  the  governor  found  a  servant,  who 
seemed  to  be  expecting  him  and  who  told  him  that 
his  master  had  sent  him  to  ask  the  gentleman  to 
come  up.  He  was  very  much  surprised,  and  told 
the  servant  that  his  master  could  not  have  known 
that  he  was  coming,  or  who  he  was.  But  the  ser- 
vant repeated  what  his  master  had  told  him.  The 
governor,  much  astonished,  went  up  to  the  room 
where  Nostradamus  was  and  saluted  him,  saying 
that  his  great  reputation  had  led  him  to  come  so 
far  to  ask  ham  to  tell  him  something  about  the  future 

88 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

which  was  of  importance  to  him.  Nostradamus 
answered  that  he  was  very  sorry  he  had  taken  so 
much  trouble,  adding  "and  God  himself  tried  to 
turn  you  back  three  times.  You  would  have  done 
better  to  have  stayed  where  you  were.  You  remem- 
ber what  happened  when  you  went  to  mount  your 
horse,  the  danger  of  being  drowned  when  you  went 
to  cross  the  Durance,  and  the  last  warning  that  God 
gave  you,  when  that  vicious  horse  nearly  killed  you 
on  the  road.  All  these  things  ought  to  have  stopped 
you  from  coming  here.  You  ought  not  to  have 
despised  these  warnings  from  Heaven. "  And  there- 
upon Nostradamus  took  a  covering  off  from  a  globe 
of  steel  which  was  on  the  table,  and  told  the  governor 
to  look  at  it,  and  he  having  done  so  saw  as  in  a  mirror 
all  the  incidents  of  his  journey.  This  made  him 
more  curious  in  reference  to  the  future,  and  he  said 
this  to  Nostradamus,  who  told  him  he  would  not 
tell  him,  because  he  should  be  obliged  to  tell  him 
things  that  would  trouble  him.  The  governor 
pressed  him  so  hard  that  at  last  Nostradamus  said 
he  would  tell  him  that  he  had  powerful  enemies 
whom  he  ought  to  beware  of,  and  he  added,  "Your 
wife  will  be  the  cause  of  misfortune  to  you,  if  you 
do  not  take  cafe  of  ydurself.  You  shxmJd  distrust 

89 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

her  most  when  she  shows  you  the  greatest  friend- 
ship, for  then  you  will  have  the  most  cause  to  fear." 
The  governor  conjured  him  to  tell  him  if  there  was 
any  way  in  which  he  could  avoid  the  evil  that 
threatened  him,  and  he  answered  that  he  should  not 
return  so  soon  if  he  would  avoid  it.  The  governor 
in  some  vexation  intimated  that  he  did  "not  give 
much  credit  to  what  Nostradamus  had  said,"  and 
left  him  and  returned  home.  When  he  knocked  at 
his  door  at  Aignes  Mortes,  the  constable,  who  was 
there,  left  the  house  by  a  rear  entrance;  and  the  wife, 
coming  down,  met  the  governor  with  a  great  show 
of  affection  and  delight,  and  as  he  was  somewhat 
fatigued  she  at  once  got  him  to  go  to  rest.  At 
midnight,  the  officers  of  the  provost  came  and 
arrested  him  in  the  King's  name,  and  he,  remember- 
ing what  Nostradamus  had  told  him,  gave  himself 
up  for  lost.  The  correspondence  which  he  had 
maintained  with  Spain,  which  had  been  intercepted, 
was  produced,  and  he  was  condemned  and  executed. 
So,  as  he  had  betrayed  the  interest  of  the  King  to 
avenge  a  personal  wrong,  the  constable  served  the 
interests  of  the  King  in  order  to  serve  his  own. 


A  NIGHT  WATCH 


KING  Henry  IV  of  France,  being  at 
Fontainebleau,  became  suspicious  of  one 
of  the  first  lords  of  the  court,  as  to  his 
relations  with  a  certain  lady  living  in 
the  castle,  and  suspected  that  he  went  to  see  her 
secretly,  but  did  it  so  adroitly  that  he  was  not 
caught.  The  King,  having  thought  of  ways 
in  which  he  could  be  surprised,  concluded  to 
choose  a  person  who  was  faithful  and  adroit  and  bold 
to  help  carry  out  his  plan.  He  told  M.  de  Belingam, 
one  of  his  principal  valets-de-chambre,  to  find  two 
men  such  as  he  wanted,  to  be  placed  in  two  spots 
where  they  could  watch  the  man  he  suspected. 
One  of  the  men  selected  was  de  Pontis,  who  was  then 
a  cadet  in  the  regiment  of  the  King's  Guard  and 
only  seventeen  years  old.  De  Pontis  tells  the  rest 
of  the  story  as  follows : 

"  Mons.  de  Belingam  said  to  me,  when  I  was 
presented  to  him,  that  this  was  a  good  opportunity 
to  make  my  fortune,  and  to  make  me  known  to  the 

91 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

King,  by  rendering  him  a  considerable  service. 
'It  is  thought,'  said  he,  'that  you  would  not  fail 
either  in  courage  or  in  action  in  this  affair,  and  it  is 
very  important  for  you  to  show  that  we  have  not 
been  mistaken  in  choosing  you.'  Any  one  can 
judge  of  the  state  of  mind  of  a  cadet  as  young  as  I 
was,  when  I  heard  him  speak  of  the  service  of  the 
king  and  of  my  fortune.  I  thanked  Mons.  de 
Belingam,  assuring  him  that  I  should  never  forget 
the  favor  he  had  done  me  in  procuring  for  me  so 
advantageous  an  opportunity;  and  I  assured  him 
that  I  would  faithfully  discharge  the  duty  which 
he  required  of  me.  So  he  informed  me  of  the  will 
of  the  King;  viz.,  that  I  was  that  night  to  station 
myself  as  a  sentinel  in  a  part  of  the  gallery  where 

I  could  not  be  seen,  and  from  which  I  could  see  the 
one  who,  as  His  Majesty  suspected,  would  about 

II  o'clock  go  into  a  certain  room  in  the  castle;  that 
I  should  follow  him  everywhere  till  he  had  gone  back 
into  the  room  where  he  slept,  so  that  they  might  be 
sure  who  he  was.     And  as  he  might  open  and  shut 
some  of  the  doors  to  prevent  his  being  followed, 
de  Belingam  gave  me  a  key  which  would  open  them 
all,  adding  that  I  must  be  contented  to  follow  him 
without  speaking  to  him,  only  taking  care  not  to 

92 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

lose  sight  of  him  till  he  had  gone  back  into  his  room. 
I  assured  Mons.  de  Belingam  again  that  he  might 
rely  on  me  in  the  affair,  and  that  I  hoped  the  matter 
would  be  speedily  cleared  up. 

"I  went  at  once  to  look  for  the  best  post  for  my 
design,  and  having  found  it  I  went  away  to  wait  for 
the  hour  when  I  must  be  at  my  post,  which  was  the 
time  of  the  King's  retiring,  when  this  person,  as 
they  told  me,  generally  came.  So  about  11  o'clock 
I  came  back  to  the  gallery  and  stationed  myself  in  a 
dark  place  where  I  could  not  be  seen.  After  an 
hour  I  heard  the  one  of  whom  they  had  told  me 
coming,  but  as  he  had  no  lantern  he  could  not  be 
recognized.  I  gave  him  no  chance  to  go  into  the 
room  to  which  he  was  going,  because  I  folio  wed  him; 
and  he,  having  heard  me,  turned  to  one  side  into 
another  gallery,  through  which  he  glided  so  skillfully 
and  so  quickly  that  he  very  near  escaped  me  in  the 
obscurity.  That  obliged  me  to  hasten  my  steps 
to  follow  him  more  closely.  He  suspected  at  once 
that  he  was  being  followed,  and,  having  gone  into 
the  stag  gallery,  he  pulled  the  door  to  after  him, 
hoping  thus  to  stop  me  short;  but  was  much  aston- 
ished to  hear  the  door  open  behind  him  and  to  find 
himself  followed  as  before.  Then  in  order  to  escape, 

93 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

he  made  a  hundred  turns  through  the  courts  and 
passages,  and  at  last  made  his  escape  into  the  garden, 
whose  gate  he  shut  hard,  hoping  in  this  way  to 
escape  from  me  and  hide  somewhere.  His  plan 
succeeded  pretty  well  at  first;  for  having  thrown 
himself  into  a  thick,  tall  hedge  which  made  a  good 
deal  of  shade  and  covered  him  from  the  moonlight, 
I  saw  no  one  when  I  got  into  the  garden.  I  began 
to  be  very  apprehensive;  I  ran  this  way  and  that 
without  discovering  him;  but  when  I  was  about  to 
give  up  in  despair  and  vexed  with  myself  for  having 
let  him  get  away,  I  returned  towards  the  gate  and 
looking  in  the  thickets  near  by,  I  spied  him  there, 
and  I  resolved  to  follow  him  so  close  as  not  to  lose 
him  again.  He,  seeing  that  he  was  discovered, 
came  out  of  the  thicket  in  a  rage,  and  made  as  if  he 
would  run  away  at  speed,  but  all  at  once  he  turned 
back  and  said  aloud,  'Ah!  This  is  too  much,'  and 
made  as  if  he  would  draw  his  sword.  I  stopped  and 
stood  firm  without  saying  a  word,  as  I  had  been 
ordered.  As  I  showed  that  I  would  defend  myself, 
which  I  was  determined  to  do  if  I  was  obliged  to, 
the  gentleman,  judging  by  my  appearance  that  I 
was  not  disposed  to  let  myself  be  crowded,  turned 
away  and  went  back  into  a  gallery  and  thence  into 

94 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

his  room  at  the  door  of  which  I  placed  myself  as  a 
sentinel.  I  was  not  alone  for  very  long,  for  about 
2  o'clock  Mons.  de  Belingam  came  to  learn  what  I 
had  discovered.  I  was  beginning  to  tell  him  what 
had  passed,  when  the  King  himself  appeared  at  the 
end  of  the  gallery  in  his  robe-de-chambre  with  a 
little  lantern  in  his  hand.  We  went  forward  at  once, 
and  though  I  had  never  had  the  honor  of  speaking 
to  the  King,  I  tried  to  give  him  an  account  of  my 
commission  as  well  as  I  could,  relating  without 
excitement  all  the  steps  which  I  had  taken  and  the 
turns  back  and  forward  which  I  had  made  the 
gentleman  take.  And  when  I  set  forth,  as  simply 
as  I  could,  the  rage  with  which  he  came  out  of  the 
thicket  and  afterwards  had  made  as  if  he  would 
draw  his  sword,  the  King  interrupted  me  and  said  to 
me,  'But  what  would  you  have  done,  cadet,  if  he 
had  come  at  you?'  'I  should  have  defended  myself* 
Sire,'  said  I,  'for  your  Majesty  had  had  the  order 
given  to  me  that  I  was  not  to  speak,  but  not  that  I 
was  not  to  defend  myself.'  The  King  burst  into  a 
laugh  and  said,  'I  think  you  would  have,  by  the 
look  of  you.'  Then  he  wanted  me  to  represent  to 
him  the  man's  position  and  action,  which  I  tried  to 
set  forth  in  the  most  lively  manner  which  I  could, 

95 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

and  which  I  judged  would  please  him  most.  And 
this  little  comedy  being  thus  finished,  he  told  me 
he  was  perfectly  satisfied  with  what  I  had  done  and 
promised  that  he  would  bear  me  in  mind." 

De  Pontis  says  that  this  resulted  in  the  King's 
giving  him  a  pension  of  a  hundred  crowns  a  year. 
But  he  says  nothing  about  the  result  to  the  party 
whose  steps  he  had  followed,  which  it  would  have 
been  interesting  for  him  to  relate.  Perhaps  he 
knew  nothing  farther. 


96 


A  MEETING  OF  FRIENDS 


DURING  the  religious  wars  in  France, 
in  the  year  1622,  Tonneins,  a  strong 
place    held    by    the    Huguenots,    was 
besieged  by  a  Catholic  force,  in  which 
was   included  the   Picardy   regiment  in  which   de 
Pontis  was  then  an  officer.     A  strong  Huguenot 
force,  approaching  in  the  design  to  raise  the  siege, 
which  the  Catholic    force  was  making  by  regular 
approach,  a  large  part  of  the  besiegers  were  drawn 
out  to  meet  them,  weakening  the  force  which  held 
the   trenches;    and    the   garrison,    perceiving    this, 
availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  make  a 
furious  sortie. 

"I  was  attacked  at  my  post,"  says  de  Pontis,  "by 
an  officer  in  command  of  about  fifty  men,  all  armed 
cap-a-pie.  He  came  straight  to  me  with  a  slender 
rapier  wjiich  he  held  in  his  hand,  and  gave  me  so 
fierce  a  blow  that  he  ran  me  through,  just  as  I  fired 
a  pistol  at  him.  The  shot  missed  his  cuirass  and 
broke  his  thigh,  and  he  fell  backwards  without 

97 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

letting  go  his  rapier  which  he  drew  out  of  my  body. 
The  soldiers  who  accompanied  him  were  so  frightened 
to  see  him  fall,  that,  though  victorious,  they  fell 
back  more  than  fifty  feet,  which  gave  me  the  chance, 
as  I  had  not  fallen  from  the  wound  I  had  received, 
severe  as  it  was,  to  drag  myself  away  as  well  as  I 
could,  sustained  by  a  brave  soldier,  named  Mutonis, 
to  try  and  reach  the  bank  of  the  river,  which,  by 
reason  of  a  very  steep  place  which  it  was  necessary 
to  descend  to  reach  the  bank,  would  put  me  in  safety 
and  save  me  from  being  captured.  As  I  moved 
slowly  thus,  leaning  on  my  poor  soldier,  a  new  mis- 
fortune befell  us  which  almost  reduced  us  to  despair, 
for  a  musket  shot  struck  Mutonis  in  the  arm.  That 
put  him  almost  as  much  in  need  of  help  as  I  was; 
and  it  was  truly  a  very  touching  thing  to  see  two 
men  covered  with  blood  and  crippled  and  having  no 
help  but  from  each  other.  For  myself  I  held  myself 
up  with  one  hand  on  the  arm  of  the  soldier  which 
was  not  broken,  and  with  the  other  I  checked  the 
flowtrf  blood  from  my  wound. 

"It  will  seem  almost  incredible  that  we;  in  the 
condition  in  which  we  were,  could  undertake  to 
reach  the  bank  of  the  river,  which  was,  as  I  have 
said,  so  difficult  to  reach  even  for  men  unhurt  and 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

robust.  But  what  will  not  the  love  of  liberty  and 
life  undertake?  And  why  marvel  that  God,  who 
wished  to  give  to  both  of  us  incomparably  greater 
grace,  should  save  us  from  this  peril  and  also  from 
many  others  in  order  to  bring  us  at  last,  after 
long  wanderings  and  strayings,  to  that  for  which  he 
had  destined  us?  For  at  last,  He  drew  that  poor 
boy  out  of  the  army,  as  He  did  me,  and  inspired 
him  to  embrace  a  truly  Christian  life  in  which  he 
should  think  only  of  his  own  salvation.  In  that 
view  he  even  wanted  to  be  a  Chartreux,  but  they 
would  not  receive  him  because  of  his  arm,  which  was 
crippled  by  the  musket  shot. 

"  Being  thus  reduced  to  the  unavoidable  necessity 
either  to  be  killed  by  the  enemy  or  broken  by  the 
fall  which  we  must  make  in  rolling  down  the  hill, 
for  we  could  not  go  down  standing  in  the  condition 
in  which  we  were,  after  having  considered  which  of 
the  two  we  would  choose,  we  finally  resolved  rather 
to  commit  ourselves  to  the  hands  of  God,  than  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  men.  And  so,  having  recom- 
mended ourselves  to  His  Divine  protection,  we  let 
ourselves  roll  down  the  hill,  and,  God  having  mani- 
festly assisted  us,  because  the  thing  was  humanly 
impossible,  we  stood  up  again  at  the  foot  with  each 

99 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

other's  help  and  walked  on  to  reach  our  quarters. 
In  the  road  which  led  along  by  the  river,  we  found 
an  officer  of  our  regiment,  named  L'Anglade,  badly 
wounded,  and  another  named  Miranne  of  the  same 
regiment,  who  when  he  saw  me  began  to  cry,  '  Mon- 
sieur de  Pontis!  I  am  dying,  have  pity  on  me!' 
I  answered,  'I  am  dying  too,  my  poor  friend!  and 
have  as  much  need  of  help  as  any  one.  But  where 
are  you  wounded?'  He  said  he  did  not  know,  but 
he  could  do  no  more.  It  occurred  to  me  that,  as  he 
was  in  armor,  it  might  be  that  his  armor  was  suffo- 
cating him.  So,  drawing  his  sword  from  his  side  as 
well  as  I  could,  I  cut  the  lashings  of  his  armor,  so 
that  it  fell  away,  and  he  began  at  once  to  breathe 
more  freely  and  to  recover  himself.  So  God  gave 
me  strength  to  save  that  officer's  life,  when  I  was 
in  danger  of  losing  my  own. 

"When  we  at  last  reached  the  camp,  they  carried 
us  to  Marmande,  where  I  learned,  from  some  soldiers 
of  the  enemy  who  had  been  taken  prisoners,  that 
the  officer  who  had  wounded  me  was  at  least  as 
badly  off  as  I,  for  he  had  a  broken  thigh,  and  that 
his  name  was  Feron.  This  news  surprised  me  and 
also  grieved  me,  for  he  was  my  intimate  friend,  and 
we  had  been  companions  in  the  Guards.  I  sent  a 
100 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

drummer  at  once  to  him  to  inquire  how  he  was  and 
to  show  to  him  my  grief  at  having  thus  met  him. 
Feron  was  no  less  surprised  to  learn  that  I  was  the 
one  whom  he  had  struck  with  so  hard  a  blow;  and 
having  answered  me  with  the  same  sentiments  of 
civility  and  sorrow  for  what  had  happened  to  me, 
he  sent  the  next  day  to  get  news  of  me,  and  we  con- 
tinued to  do  this  as  long  as  we  were  near  each  other, 
which  drew  us  closer  to  each  other  than  we  were 
before  and  increased  our  former  friendship,  which 
has  continued  till  the  present  time.  From  Mar- 
mande  I  was  taken  to  Toulouse,  where  I  nearly  died 
of  my  wound  and  of  a  fever  which  attacked  me. 
It  was  more  than  six  months  before  my  wound 
was  closed  enough  so  that  I  could  walk  and  it  was 
not  entirely  cured  till  several  years  after." 


101 


A  STRANGE  HIDING  PLACE 

IN  the  religious  wars  of  France  in  the  year  1621, 
the    Huguenot    inhabitants    of    Negrepelisse 
rose  one  night  upon  the  Catholic  garrison  of 
four  hundred  men  and  killed  them  all.     The 
King,  when  he  heard  it,  declared  that  he  would 
punish  them  in  the  same  way  and  would  not  leave 
a  soul  alive.    And  the  next  year  the  King,  with  a 
strong  force  appeared  before  the  town  and  took  it  by 
assault.     The  inhabitants,  finding  that  no  quarter 
was  to  be  given  them,  sold  their  lives  very  dearly, 
causing  heavy  loss  to  the  royalist  force,  but  were  all 
cut  to  pieces. 

De  Pontis  proceeds  with  the  narrative  as  follows: 
"After  this  carnage,  the  soldiers  began  to  pillage 
and  to  take  the  women  whom  they  found.     I  was 
at  the  head  of  our  regiment,  when  a  perfectly  beauti- 
ful girl,  aged  about  17  or  18  years,  came  hurriedly 
out  of  a  house  which  had  not  yet  been  entered  and 
ran  and  threw  herself  at  my  feet,  begging  me  to 
save  her  honor  and  her  life.     I  gave  her  the  promise 
102 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

at  once,  and  assured  her  that  I  would  rather  lose  my 
life  than  allow  either  to  be  taken  from  her.  I 
wished  to  have  her  near  me,  guarded  by  three  or 
four  soldiers,  but  she  thought  she  would  not  be  safe 
unless  she  kept  hold  of  the  edge  of  my  surcoat.  In 
this  way  I  took  her  through  the  city.  On  the  way 
she  was  seen  by  a  party  of  officers,  some  of  whom 
were  so  insolent  as  to  demand  that  I  should  put  her 
in  their  hands;  whereupon  I  saw  myself  forced  to 
quarrel  with  them,  preferring  to  have  them  for 
enemies  rather  than  to  fail  in  the  promise  which  I 
had  given  and  in  the  justice  which  I  felt  was  due  to 
an  honest  girl  who  had  implored  my  protection. 
In  this  way  I  brought  her  to  my  hut.  Her  parents 
were  prominent  in  the  city,  where  her  father  was  a 
minister;  and  it  had  happened,  very  fortunately  for 
them,  that  they  were  at  a  house  which  they  had  in 
the  country,  having  left  her  to  take  care  of  the 
house.  As  I  saw  I  should  be  troubled  further  by 
the  importunity  of  different  persons,  some  of  whom 
were  of  the  principal  men  of  the  army,  I  thought 
over  all  possible  ways  to  hide  her,  until  I  could  put 
her  in  the  hands  of  her  father  and  mother,  so  as  to 
deliver  us  both,  her  and  myself,  from  the  fear  of  the 
continual  peril  to  which  she  was  exposed. 
103 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

"But  that  could  not  be  done  easily  in  a  camp  of 
nothing  but  huts,  and  where  I  knew  there  was  so 
little  fidelity.  At  last  I  thought  of  a  plan,  as 
extraordinary  as  can  be  imagined  and  which  might 
appear  incredible  to  some.  As  sometimes  the  best 
places  to  hide  things  are  not  the  most  secret,  but 
those  which  are  not  suspected  because  they  are 
most  in  sight,  I  thought  that  the  carcase  of  a  heifer, 
which  I  had  had  killed  the  day  before  and  which 
was  hanging  up  all  whole  in  my  hut,  might  serve 
my  plan.  I  turned  the  belly  of  it  to  the  wall,  and 
put  my  prisoner  in  the  body  of  the  animal  to  see 
if  she  would  be  hid  there.  The  thing  succeeded 
very  well,  for  the  fear  of  the  pressing  peril  helping 
her  to  fit  herself  into  so  small  a  place  which  was  the 
only  one  that  could  save  her,  she  crowded  into  it 
and  made  herself  so  small  that  she  could  not  be  seen 
at  all.  I  told  her  whenever  she  heard  a  knock  to  run 
and  hide  there,  because  to  stay  there  all  the  time 
would  be  unpleasant.  And  it  happened  that  almost 
as  soon  as  I  had  arranged  this  invention,  some 
guard  officers,  under  the  pretence  of  inspecting  the 
camp,  came  and  knocked  at  my  hut.  They  told 
me,  when  they  came  in,  the  true  reason  of  their 
coming  and  urged  me  to  give  them  a  sight  of  her 
104 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

whom  God  had  just  put  into  my  hands.  I  answered 
them  so  proudly,  letting  them  freely  look  through 
my  hut,  where  they  only  saw  the  heifer,  that  they 
went  away  convinced  that  she  was  no  longer  with 
me.  There  is  no  need  to  tell  of  all  the  others  who 
were  taken  in  by  the  trick,  and  who,  after  having 
come  in,  went  away,  having  seen  nothing  but  the 
heifer  hanging  there. 

"But  the  affair  went  farther  and  was  carried  to 
the  King,  who  sent  for  me.  As  I  was  sure  of  the 
fidelity  of  my  servants,  I  left  my  prisoner  in  their 
care,  telling  them  to  stay  outside  of  the  hut,  and  to  say 
that  I  was  not  there,  and  not  to  let  any  one  go  in. 
The  King  asked  me,  as  soon  as  he  saw  me,  if  it  was 
true  that  I  had  a  very  pretty  girl  in  my  quarters. 
As  I  have  never  concealed  anything  from  him,  I 
told  him  the  whole  story  just  as  it  had  happened. 
Then  the  King,  looking  at  me  very  sharply,  said, 
'Have  you  kept  your  promise?'  I  swore  to  him 
before  God  and  before  him  that  I  had,  and  he 
answered,  'I  am  delighted  to  hear  it.  Finish  what 
you  have  begun  so  well,  for  it  is  one  of  the  finest 
actions  of  your  life,  and  I  shall  consider  it  as  one  of 
the  greatest  services  that  you  have  rendered  to  me. 
If  any  one  should  happen  to  discover  her  and  urge 
105 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 


you  to  let  him  have  her,  tell  him  that  you  have 
received  orders  from  me  to  take  care  of  her,  and  that 
I,  myself,  put  her  in  your  care. ' 

"I  begged  His  Majesty  to  allow  me  to  send  a 
drummer  to  her  father  who  was  four  or  five  leagues 
from  camp,  so  that  I  could  put  her  in  his  hands  as 
soon  as  possible.  This  request,  which  showed  the 
sincerity  with  which  I  was  acting,  pleased  the  King 
much,  and  he  said  that  he  granted  my  request  with 
all  his  heart,  and  that  I  could  not  do  better. 

"I  took  leave  of  His  Majesty,  and  hastened  back 
to  my  hut,  where  I  found  things  all  right ;  and  I  told 
the  girl  to  write  a  letter  to  her  father  telling  him  to 
come  and  get  her  at  a  place  which  I  mentioned,  and 
to  tell  him  that  the  drummer  who  brought  the 
letter  would  take  him  safely  to  the  place  where  she 
and  I  would  not  fail  to  meet  him.  She  wrote  a  note 
which  in  three  words  told  him  what  I  had  told  her 
to  say,  putting  off  the  account  of  how  she  was  in 
danger  from  which  I  had  saved  her,  till  she  could  tell 
it  to  him.  The  father  and  mother  received  the  news 
with  joy  which  can  be  better  imagined  than  expressed, 
and  were  speedily  at  the  place  appointed,  where  I 
met  them  with  the  girl.  Putting  her  in  their  hands, 
I  told  them  that  I  had  preserved  her  at  the  risk  of 
106 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

my  own  life,  as  if  she  had  been  my  own  daughter, 
and  that  I  considered  myself  very  happy  in  that 
God  had  given  me  the  opportunity  to  save  a  young 
person  from  such  an  impending  peril.  They  wished 
to  acknowledge  the  service  and  offered  me  all  they 
had  in  recompense  for  the  precious  present  which  I 
had  given  them,  in  restoring  to  them  the  daughter 
whom  they  had  considered  lost.  I  was  satisfied 
with  their  friendship,  and  told  them  that  I  was 
sufficiently  recompensed  by  having  saved  the  honor 
of  their  daughter.  But,  before  I  reached  my  hut,  I 
saw  following  me  two  horses  loaded  with  game  and 
other  similar  things;  and  the  man  who  drove  them 
said  that  his  master  sent  it  and  begged  me  to  accept 
at  least  this,  which  was  so  little  that  he  hardly  dared 
to  offer  it.  I  could  not  refuse  it,  fearing  to  cause 
too  much  chagrin  to  the  sender,  and  I  told  the  servant 
to  tell  his  master  that  I  had  accepted  it,  so  as  not  to 
disoblige  him,  and  thanked  him. 

"They  always  remembered  me  afterwards.  Five 
or  six  months  afterwards  I  went  by  the  place  where 
the  father  had  a  house.  I  went  to  see  them,  and  the 
poor  girl  was  so  transported  with  joy  to  see  me 
again,  that  she  threw  herself  at  my  knees,  and 
would  not  leave  me,  showing  more  sense  of  the 
107 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

obligation  which  she  felt  toward  me,  because  she 
was  more  herself  than  she  had  been  before,  and 
telling  her  father  and  mother  that  she  regarded  me 
as  another  father  and  mother,  because  I  had  saved 
her  life  and  her  honor. " 


108 


A  FAMILY  QUARREL  IN 


THE  house  of  Poligny  is  an  illustrious  house 
in  Dauphiny.  It  possesses  a  considerable 
estate,  called  Vaubonnez,  which  is  like  a 
little  kingdom  by  itself,  because  it  includes 
fifteen  villages  which  are  all  shut  in  by  precipices 
and  natural  gullies,  and  the  entrance  to  them  is 
only  by  three  different  stone  bridges.  M.  de  Poligny, 
who  was  about  65  years  old,  had  a  son,  whom  he 
had  named  from  that  Vaubonnez  estate.  But  he 
had  also  a  bastard  son,  named  Richard,  whom  he 
had  made  castellan  or  bailly  of  the  seignorial 
property,  and  who  had  so  conducted  himself  in  that 
office  that  he  found  means  to  make  himself,  in  a 
few  years,  worth  more  than  two  hundred  thousand 
livres.  When  M.  de  Vaubonnez  was  quite  small, 
they  gave  him  a  teacher  who  took  great  care  of  him, 
and  was  bringing  him  up  according  to  his  quality. 
When  he  had  reached  the  age  of  12  years  they  gave 
him  a  gun,  and  his  teacher  sometimes  took  him  out 
to  teach  him  to  shoot  the  thrushes  and  blackbirds. 
109 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

One  day,  when  they  were  out  on  this  diversion, 
they  met  Sieur  Richard,  who  was  taking  the  liberty 
of  hunting  openly  over  the  estate.  The  young 
gentleman,  not  willing  to  bear  this  impudence, 
asked  him  who  gave  him  leave  to  come  there  to  hunt, 
and  showed  that  he  was  offended,  adding  that  he 
did  not  mean  that  he  should  do  so  in  future.  Rich- 
ard, who  was  very  insolent  and  whose  mode  of  life 
was  suitable  to  his  birth,  said  proudly  that  it  was 
no  extraordinary  thing,  as  he  had  always  hunted 
there,  and  that  he  was  astonished  that  it  was  con- 
sidered wrong.  De  Vaubonnez  replied  that  he  did 
not  know  about  its  being  his  custom,  but  he  advised 
him  not  to  come  again,  and  said  that  if  he  found  him 
there  again  he  would  have  his  gun  taken  from  him. 
Richard  replied  very  insolently  that  no  one  would 
take  his  gun  away  till  after  he  had  broken  his  head. 
Vaubonnez'  preceptor,  hearing  him  speak  in  that 
way,  told  him  that  he  forgot  himself  and  did  not 
remember  that  he  was  speaking  to  his  Seigneur; 
that  he  was  only  the  bailly  of  the  Vaubonnez  estate, 
and  that  he  owed  all  his  fortune  to  M.  de  Poligny. 
"I  know, "  said  Richard, "  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for 
my  fortune;  and  it  is  not  you  by  whom  I  ought  to  be 
informed;  and  yt>u  are  meddKng  with  what  does  not 
HO 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

concern  you.  When  monsieur  is  a  little  taller  we 
will  talk  to  him  and  have  an  explanation  about  this 
matter."  The  preceptor  replied  that  the  affairs  of 
M.  de  Vaubonnez  were  his;  that  he  would  not  deserve 
to  be  in  Vaubonnez'  service  if  he  did  not  take  an 
interest  in  what  concerned  him,  and  that  he  advised 
Richard  to  keep  himself  within  the  bounds  of  his 
duty  or  he  would  be  sorry.  Thereupon  many  hot 
words  passed  between  them  and  they  separated  in 
anger. 

Richard  resolved  thereupon  to  take  vengeance 
on  the  teacher.  So  he  made  up  his  mind  to  assassi- 
nate him;  and  having  had  the  effrontery  to  come 
into  the  courtyard  of  Vaubonnez  where  he  saw  the 
young  gentleman  and  the  teacher  at  the  door  of  the 
building,  he  fired  a  shot  at  him  and  killed  him  and 
then  took  to  flight.  Such  extraordinary  insolence 
and  so  black  an  assassination  irritated  Madame  de 
Poligny  exceedingly.  She  put  the  ordinary  course 
of  justice  in  motion  and  the  intendant  of  title  province 
condemned  Richard  to  be  hung. 

The  murderer,  concluding  that  he  was  lost  if  he 

did  not  succeed  in  having  the  case  taken  out  of  the 

province,  resolved  to  go  to  Fontainebleau  in  order 

to  obtain  from  the  King's  council  this  removal,  on 

111 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

the  pretext  that  Madame  de  Poligny  was  all  powerful 
in  the  Grenoble  parliament.  I  was  then  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  but  as  I  did  not  know  the  miserable  man  and 
had  not  yet  been  informed  about  his  case,  though  I 
had  the  honor  to  be  connected  with  Madame  de 
Poligny,  he  obtained  from  the  King  a  protection  so 
that  he  might  be  free  to  solicit  the  members  of  the 
council*  and,  morover,  he  had  himself  accompanied 
everywhere  by  three  or  four  big  lackeys  and  by 
some  of  his  friends  as  determined  as  he  was. 

Sometime  after  this  I  received  a  letter  from 
Madame  de  Poligny,  which  told  me  about  this  vile 
deed  of  Richard's  and  conjured  me  in  consideration 
of  the  connection  between  us,  to  help  her  with  my 
credit  at  the  court  against  that  assassin,  who,  after 
he  had  been  condemned  to  be  hung,  was  seeking  a 
removal  of  the  cause  before  the  King's  council. 
An  assassination  so  vile  struck  me  in  such  a  way 
that  I  resolved  to  give  the  lady  all  the  protection  I 
could.  I  found  out  that  Mons.  du  Gue,  a  master 
of  requests,  had  been  named  reporter  in  the  caset. 

*  It  was  customary  in  France,  that  a  party  in  a  litigation, 
as  well  as  his  friends  (and  the  more  influential  the  better)  was 
allowed  to  interview  the  judge  and  solicit  a  favorable  decision. 

t  It  was  the  custom  of  the  French  court  in  every  case  to 
make  one  of  the  judges  to  be  reporter;  i.  e.,  to  examine  the 
case  and  report  to  the  court  his  opinion  upon  it  and  upon  the 
judgment  to  be  given. 

112 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

Although  everyone  advised  me  to  object  to  him, 
because  of  the  powerful  recommendations  which 
Richard  had  procured  to  be  made,  I  did  not  wish  to 
do  it,  because  I  knew  he  was  a  man  of  honor  and  a 
very  good  judge.  I  went  to  him  and  said  that  the 
reputation  which  he  had  of  being  a  man  of  probity 
made  me  hope  that  he  would  do  justice  for  Madame 
de  Poligny;  that  the  crime  of  her  opponent  was  so 
black  that  he  could  not  deserve  any  favor;  that  as 
for  me,  I  had  no  interest  in  the  matter  except  that 
justice  should  be  done;  but  as  the  lady  had  begged 
me  to  assist  her,  I  did  not  fear  to  denounce  a  man 
who  had  committed  such  a  crime  in  the  house  of  a 
noble  of  the  country,  who  was  his  own  Seigneur- 
"I  ask  for  justice  then,  Monsieur,"  said  T,  "against 
an  assassin  who  is  unworthy  of  a  pardon. " 

It  happened,  that,  just  as  I  was  speaking  so  warmly 
about  the  matter,  Richard  came  into  the  hall  where 
we  were,  accompanied  as  usual  by  a  number  of 
people  of  no  better  stamp  than  himself.  As  soon 
as  I  had  seen  this  man,  so  black  with  crimes,  I  was 
still  more  excited  and  raising  my  voice,  I  said,  "Yes, 
sir,  I  again  demand  justice.  There  is  the  assassin — 
the  murderer,  who  has  the  hardiness  to  present 
himself  before  you  with  his  sword  at  his  side,  after 
113 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

he  had  used  arms  to  sacrifice  a  man  of  honor  to  his 
revenge. 

"I  demand  justice  at  your  hands  against  this 
man,  who,  being  a  prisoner  of  the  King  and  guilty 
of  a  crime,  has  the  insolence  to  bear  arms  still. 
Order  him,  sir,  to  constitute  himself  a  prisoner  and 
to  pay  the  proper  respect  to  the  King's  council." 

Although  the  reporter  had  received,  as  I  have 
said,  powerful  recommendations  in  favor  of  Richard, 
such  a  bold  speech,  coming  from  a  person  who  was 
not  at  the  time  wearing  a  sword,  astonished  him  as 
well  as  Richard  so  much  that  they  were  both  almost 
abashed.  But  as  the  voice  of  justice  is  very  strong, 
and  moreover  as  the  man  to  whom  I  spoke  was  a 
man  of  honor,  he  could  not  refrain  from  saying  to 
Richard  that  I  was  right,  and  that  he  forbade  his 
appearing  thus  with  a  sword  at  his  side  before  him, 
which  compelled  Richard  to  leave  at  once  quite 
discountenanced  and  in  a  very  bad  humor  at  me 
for  having  thus  had  him  condemned  to  put  off  his 
sword. 

The  reporter  assured  me  that  he  would  do  what 

was  just,  but  I  thought  it  wise  to  make  it  more 

certain  by  the  assistance  of  my  friends.     So  I  got 

the  help,  among  others,  of  Marshal  de  Villeroy,  who 

114 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

was  a  particular  friend  of  mine  and  with  the  best 
grace  in  the  world  agreed  to  solicit  in  favor  of  Madame 
de  Poligny.  Having  asked  me  to  dine  with  him  the 
next  day  he  invited  the  reporter  also.  And,  as  we 
rose  from  the  table,  the  marshal  said  very  pleasantly 
to  M.  du  Gue,  "Oh,  sir,  you  must  deliver  me  from 
the  importunity  of  this  man  (indicating  me).  He 
makes  me  believe  that  I  have  some  credit  with  you. 
Is  he  right  about  that?  And  can  I  be  sure  that  you 
will  not  refuse  me. " 

"You  do  me  honor  and  justice,  sir, "  said  du  Gue. 
"I  can  no  more  refuse  you  anything  than  you  can 
urge  me  to  anything  that  is  not  just." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  the  marshal,  "I  only  ask  that, 
for  the  love  of  me,  you  will  bear  in  mind  the  case  of 
Madame  de  Poligny,  and  will  do  justice  in  it.  They 
say  that  the  crime  of  the  man  whom  she  is  proceed- 
ing against  is  so  black  that  he  is  unworthy  of  pardon." 

Not  to  prolong  the  matter  uselessly,  I  add  in  a 
word  that,  the  reporter  being  a  very  good  judge  and 
seeing  himself  powerfully  urged  to  do  justice,  Sieur 
Richard  was  refused  the  removal  which  he  was 
seeking,  and  was  sent  back  to  the  Grenoble  parlia- 
ment, where  the  case  was  to  be  examined  anew  and 
concluded.  He  was  so  upset  by  this  news,  that, 
115 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

seeing  that  he  had  no  resource  left  and  that  his  loss 
of  the  case  was  certain,  he  resolved  to  humble 
himself  and  ask  pardon  of  me,  which  he  did ;  and  when 
he  came  to  me  he  showed  all  submission  that  could 
be  imagined  to  move  me.  He  conjured  me  to  try 
and  obtain  mercy  for  him  and  to  write  to  Madame 
de  Poligny  in  his  name,  assuring  her  that  he  was 
disposed  to  give  her  whatever  satisfaction  she 
required;  that  he  acknowledged  with  grief  the  crime 
which  he  had  committed  and  believed  it  was  the 
devil  which  had  pushed  him  into  it. 

I  asked  him  coldly  enough  if  he  had  well  considered 
what  he  was  saying  and  if  he  spoke  from  the  bottom 
of  his  heart.  "For,"  said  I,  "if  you  undertake  to 
promise  something  to  me  and  then  you  fail  to  keep 
your  word,  I  will  take  up  the  matter  against  you 
myself  and  you  will  see  strange  things." 

He  protested  that  he  was  speaking  sincerely  and 
that  he  was  determined  to  keep  his  promise.  There- 
upon I  concluded  to  write  to  Madame  de  Poligny 
in  his  favor,  having  some  pity  for  the  state  he  was 
in,  and  besides  wishing  to  avoid  the  consequences 
of  such  a  miserable  lawsuit.  So  I  wrote  to  the  lady 
to  tell  her  about  Sieur  Richard's  state  of  mind,  and 
to  urge  her  to  be  willing  to  take  gentle  measures  and 
116 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

have  a  settlement  of  the  affair  and  be  merciful  to  a 
man  who  showed  real  repentance  for  his  crime  and  a 
desire  to  give  to  her  every  sort  of  satisfaction. 

Sieur  Richard  went  back  to  Dauphiny  and  sent 
my  letter  to  Madame  de  Poligny;  and  she,  being 
disposed  to  yield  to  my  request,  said  it  was  necessary 
to  see  if  the  man  would  return  to  his  duty  and  would 
keep  the  word  which  he  had  given  to  me.  So  they 
selected  four  arbiters  and  for  umpire  the  Duke  de 
Lesdiguieres,  to  fix  the  terms  of  the  settlement. 
But  when  they  fixed  upon  a  sum  for  him  to  pay,  he 
thought  it  was  too  much,  and  squirmed  out  of  the 
arbitration,  and  found  means  to  get  it  set  aside, 
giving  the  King 's  council  to  understand  that  he  had 
got  some  new  evidence  for  his  justification,  which 
had  not  been  produced. 

Being  very  much  puffed  up  by  the  success  of  this 
secret  intrigue,  he  stayed  boldly  in  his  house  about 
three  musket-shots  from  Vaubonnez,  and  paraded 
proudly  everywhere  as  if  he  had  been  fully  justified, 
being  always  accompanied,  however,  by  six  or  seven 
of  his  friends,  as  fit  for  the  gallows  as  himself. 

Madame  de  Poligny 's  husband,  who  was  still 
living,  was  of  peaceable  disposition  and  hated 
quarrels  and  law  suits.  He  found  himself  much 
117 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

embarrassed,  for  he  was  kept  for  three  days  in  his 
house,  as  if  he  was  besieged  by  that  miserable 
fellow,  who  was  going  through  the  country-side  and 
was  ready  to  make  de  Poligny  trouble  at  any  time. 
I  had  been  sent  to  Provence  by  an  order  of  the  King 
to  attend  to  some  business  there;  and  Madame  de 
Poligny  came  to  me  there,  seeing  that  the  fine  prom- 
ises of  Sieur  Richard  amounted  to  nothing,  and 
that  she  and  her  husband  and  son  were  exposed  to 
continual  insults  from  him. 

Letting  me  know  the  bad  state  of  affairs,  she 
conjured  me,  by  consideration  of  our  friendship  and 
connection,  to  help  deliver  her  from  the  violence  of 
that  tyrant.  I  told  her  that  as  long  as  I  was  occupied 
by  the  King's  business  I  could  only  get  help  for  her 
by  writing  to  my  friends,  but  that  I  had  no  doubt 
that  my  letters  would  lead  them  to  act  as  much  as 
my  presence.  But  the  lady  knew  too  well  the 
insolent  temper  and  violent  nature  of  Sieur  Richard 
and  the  necesssity  of  my  presence  on  the  spot,  to  be 
satisfied  with  my  offer  to  treat  the  affair  by  writing. 
So  she  planned  to  attach  me  to  her  by  closer  bonds, 
and  proposed  to  me  to  marry  her  son  with  a  niece 
of  mine,  named  Anne  de  Pontis,  as  they  were  both 
of  a  suitable  age  and  the  alliance  would  make  the 
118 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

interests  of  her  house  my  own  and  I  should  have 
to  consider  them  as  such.  I  told  her  I  was  infinitely 
obliged  to  her,  that  my  niece  was  not  worthy  of  the 
honor,  but  that  if  I  should  refuse  it  for  her  it  would 
be  because  I  dared  not  accept  it.  She  understood 
that  I  consented,  and  showed  that  she  was  much 
pleased  by  it,  and  pressed  me  to  conclude  on  the 
marriage,  which  we  did  without  many  formalities, 
relying  on  the  sincerity  and  good  faith  with  which 
we  acted  towards  each  other.  I  told  her  I  hoped 
she  would  not  find  herself  deceived  in  the  opinion 
which  she  had  of  me,  and  I  assured  her  that,  as 
soon  as  I  had  finished  with  the  King's  business,  I 
would  take  right  hold  of  her  affair  and  would  perish 
rather  than  that  I  should  not  bring  her  out  of  it 
with  honor. 

So  young  de  Vaubonnez  and  my  niece  were  mar- 
ried with  much  magnificence;  and  as  soon  as  I  had 
finished  the  execution  of  the  orders  which  the  King 
had  given  me  I  arranged  to  go  with  the  young 
husband  to  put  him  in  possession  of  his  estate.  So 
I  went  myself  to  Vaubonnez,  accompanied  by  ten  or 
twelve  of  my  friends,  well  armed  and  mounted,  with 
all  our  men. 

When  Sieur  Richard  learned  of  our  arrival,  he 
119 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

shut  himself  in  his  house  with  his  people  and,  judging 
that  it  would  not  be  wise  for  him  to  meet  us,  he  ran 
away  the  following  night,  so  as  not  to  be  exposed  to 
any  vexation  which  he  might  reasonably  fear  he 
would  receive  at  our  hands.  But,  having  learned 
some  days  after  that  I  had  let  my  friends  go  away, 
and  that  I  was  staying  alone  at  Vaubonnez,  he  took 
courage  and  came  back  by  night  to  his  house.  He 
even  had  the  boldness  to  send  the  next  day  to  ask 
me  that  I  would  let  him  come  and  see  me  and  that 
I  would  give  him  liberty  to  go  about  where  he 
pleased.  I  answered  the  man  who  brought  this 
message  that  I  did  not  advise  Monsieur  Richard  to 
present  himself  before  me,  and  that  if  he  was  bold 
enough  to  do  so,  he  might  be  sorry  for  it,  rather  than 
I.  When  he  received  my  answer  he  began  to  swear, 
being  in  a  great  rage  against  me,  and  said  that  I  was 
a  fine  man  to  hinder  him  from  going  where  he  wanted 
to,  and  that  we  should  sometime  see  which  was 
the  stronger  man.  But  he  had  more  bluff  than 
courage,  and  it  turned  out  that  he  was  haughty 
only  when  he  had  the  power  in  his  hands. 

On  one  feast-day  he  sent  to  me  to  say  that  he  did 
not  believe  I  would  hinder  him  from  going  to  the 
Vaubonnez  church.    I  replied  that  I  would  advise 
120 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

him  to  go  to  mass  somewhere  else,  and  that  I  would 
not  allow  a  murderer,  who  had  in  so  cowardly  a  way 
assassinated  a  man  of  honor  in  the  castle  of  Vau- 
bonnez,  to  present  himself  in  the  church  of  Vaubon- 
nez,  as  if  to  brave  his  Seigneur,  whom  he  had  so 
outrageously  offended  by  that  action.  So  I  ordered 
my  people,  who  were  all  brave  soldiers,  to  put 
themselves  in  good  array,  and  I  accompanied  Madame 
de  Poligny  and  my  niece  to  the  church,  resolved  to 
die  rather  than  let  that  assassin  come  in.  When  I 
was  in  the  church,  another  person  came  to  tell  me 
that  M.  Richard  was  on  the  road  and  was  coming. 
I  said  to  the  man,  "  Go  and  tell  him  that  I  am  wait- 
ing for  him  and  will  meet  him  there. "  And  at  once 
I  sent  a  trusty  man  of  my  servants  and  my  valet  to 
a  very  narrow  part  of  the  road  through  which  Sieur 
Richard  must  come,  telling  them  to  make  haste 
and  get  there.  "And,"  said  I  to  them,  "if  Richard 
comes,  tell  him  that  I  have  given  you  that  post  to 
guard  and  that  you  advise  him  not  to  come  ahead. 
If  he  retires  let  him  go,  and  don't  run  after  him. 
But  if  he  acts  as  if  he  meant  to  pass,  or  breaks  out 
into  abuse  of  you,  run  at  him  vigorously  as  you 
know  how;  and  don't  be  afraid,  for  we  will  back  you 
up." 

121 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

When  Sieur  Richard  was  informed  that  our  two 
soldiers  were  at  their  post,  he  was  not  bold  enough 
to  appear  there,  for  fear  of  the  disgrace  of  having  to 
retreat.  He  contented  himself  as  usual  with  saying 
many  hard  words  of  me,  but  I  easily  endured  what 
I  did  not  hear.  He  felt  that  he  was  pushed  to  the 
wall,  and  was  in  despair;  and  what  served  to  increase 
his  bad  humor  was  that  some  officers  of  the  Lesdi- 
guieres  regiment,  who  were  informed  of  what  was 
going  on,  came  to  see  me  to  offer  me  then-  services 
against  that  brute.  Because  of  that  he  was  obliged 
to  keep  himself  close  in  his  house  and  did  not  dare 
to  appear  abroad. 

One  day  those  officers  made  up  a  party  to  go  and 
breakfast  at  a  village  about  a  league  from  Vaubon- 
nez.  I  had  opposed  it  at  first,  fearing  some  unpleas- 
ant meeting  with  a  desperate  man,  and  not  wishing 
by  any  fault  of  mine  to  get  into  some  bad  affair 
which  might  bring  a  lawsuit  upon  me.  But  I 
finally  consented  so  as  not  to  vex  the  others,  who 
wanted  to  go  very  much.  But  we  amused  ourselves 
so  much  by  conversing  and  riding  to  one  point  and 
another,  that  when  we  reached  the  village  it  was 
time  for  dinner  rather  than  breakfast,  which  made 
M.  de  Poligny  and  me  say  that  we  had  better  go 
122 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

back,  for  we  should  get  a  better  dinner  at  home. 
And  he  and  I  started  back  to  the  house.  But  young 
Vaubonnez  was  vexed  at  not  breakfasting  with  the 
officers,  and  said  to  them,  without  saying  a  word  to 
us,  that  it  was  not  reasonable  to  go  back  without 
drinking  a  glass;  that  the  breakfast  was  ready  and 
that,  while  we  went  on  a  little  before  them,  they  could 
taste  what  had  been  prepared.  So  they  stayed  and 
let  M.  de  Poligny  and  me  go  on  alone  thinking  that 
they  would  follow  us  in  a  moment. 

When  we  were  in  sight  of  Sieur  Richard's  house 
which  had  an  outlook  along  the  high  road,  he  per- 
ceived us;  and  seeing  that  there  was  no  one  following 
us  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  league  behind  us,  he 
resolved  to  come  and  attack  us.  So  he  came  out  of 
his  house  with  four  or  five  of  his  friends,  and  they 
placed  themselves  at  a  turn  of  the  road  where  we 
must  pass.  They  were  all  on  foot  but  well  armed 
with  pistols  and  swords,  and  one  of  them  carried  a 
halberd.  When  I  saw  him  in  that  spot  and  in  such 
a  posture,  I  concluded  that,  as  we  had  to  pass  there 
and  I  had  no  disposition  to  turn  back,  there  was 
going  to  be  a  great  fire.  Goodman  de  Poligny,  who 
was  of  an  age  when  he  only  wanted  repose,  was  not 
pleased  that  our  friends  had  quitted  us  so  inoppor- 
123 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

tunely,  nor  was  I  very  much  so,  but  there  was  no 
time  to  deliberate  and  we  had  to  make  up  for  their 
absence  by  our  courage.  When  we  were  about  forty 
paces  from  Sieur  Richard,  the  miserable  fellow 
began  to  draw  his  hat  down  over  his  eyes  and  turn 
up  one  side  of  the  brim;  and  with  a  posture  and  an 
air  that  was  more  proud  than  was  fit  for  him  he 
paraded  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  looking  at  me 
with  a  fierce  wild  look  as  if  he  would  like  to  tear  me 
to  pieces.  And  doubtless  he  would  have  done  it, 
if  he  had  been  able,  but  God  gave  me  extraordinary 
fortitude  for  the  meeting.  We  went  on  at  the  same 
pace  towards  him,  when  all  of  a  sudden,  drawing  a 
pistol,  he  came  towards  me  swearing  and  howling 
like  a  madman.  Seeing  myself  thus  threatened, 
I  drove  both  spurs  into  my  horse's  flanks  with  all 
my  strength;  and  he,  being  extremely  quick  and 
recognizing  by  that  signal  what  his  master  wanted, 
threw  himself  with  incredible  force  and  quickness 
into  the  midst  of  that  troop  of  armed  men,  threw  some 
of  them  to  the  earth,  drove  away  the  rest  and  forced 
them  to  hide  along  the  hedges  as  well  as  they  could. 
But  I,  paying  particular  attention  to  Richard  who 
was  playing  the  bully  more  than  the  rest,  and  who 
was  the  sole  cause  of  the  quarrel,  caught  him  by 
124 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

the  collar  and  giving  him  a  whirl  with  extraordinary 
force,  threw  him  to  the  earth  and  drove  my  horse 
several  times  over  him  to  break  an  arm  or  a  leg, 
not  meaning  to  kill  him.  But  God  did  not  permit 
it,  for  my  horse  every  time  jumped  over  him  with- 
out stepping  on  him.  I  had  two  pistol  bullets 
through  my  mantle,  and  my  horse  was  badly  hurt. 
I  had  also  a  blow  from  a  halberd  which  nearly  broke 
my  neck,  but  being  directed  by  the  hand  of  God, 
only  cut  the  collar  of  my  coat.  I  can  say  that  I 
never  had  a  greater  service  from  my  horse  than  then. 
He  whirled  about  like  a  monkey,  and  I  used  him  as 
if  he  had  had  reason  so  as  to  do  what  I  wished  and 
to  rush  upon  one  and  another  before  they  had  time 
to  recover  themselves. 

But  truly,  in  the  midst  of  this  bloody  tragedy,  I 
had  a  kind  of  aversion  to  see  Goodman  de  Poligny 
who,  just  as  he  saw  me  rush  in  and  overthrow  these 
people  with  my  horse  and  my  sword,  was  thinking 
less  of  the  service  that  I  was  rendering  him  than  of 
the  legal  proceedings  which  might  come  from  it, 
and  he  began  to  shout  to  Sieur  Richard  and  the  rest, 
"At  least,  messieurs,  it  is  not  I  who  am  the  cause  of 
all  this.  You  are  witnesses  that  it  is  only  M.  de 
Pontis. "  Then  addressing  himself  to  me,  he  added 

125 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

"Ah!  sir,  you  are  spoiling  everything.  I  had  right 
on  my  side  in  my  suit.  And  now  they  will  have  the 
right  to  sue  me."  I  shouted  back  without  being 
disturbed  much,  "yes,  yes,  sir,  they  are  witnesses 
that  it  is  not  you,  but  me,  who  is  guilty  of  this  fault, 
if  it  is  one.  I  take  it  on  myself.  I  shall  be  their 
opponent.  And  I  am  very  willing  to  be  such  for 
the  love  of  you. " 

Soon  after,  our  friends,  who  had  stayed  behind 
and  who  hastened  up  on  hearing  the  disturbance, 
arrived  when  the  affair  was  finished  and  the  assassins 
in  flight.  They  wondered  at  our  good  fortune  and 
regretted  much  that  they  had  lost  this  only  oppor- 
tunity of  rendering  service  to  us.  Goodman  de 
Poligny,  who  could  not  be  silent  or  keep  from  show- 
ing to  everybody  his  regret  for  this  occurence, 
repeatedly  said  to  me  that  I  had  ruined  him  and 
that  this  man  would  in  his  turn  begin  proceedings 
against  him.  But  Madame  de  Poligny,  who  was  a 
brave  and  generous  woman,  when  she  heard  what 
had  happened,  praised  me  much  and  thanked  me 
for  having  in  this  way  broken  down  the  pride  and 
insolence  of  that  assassin. 

But  Sieur  Richard,  who  was  skilled  in  trickery* 
went  the  following  night  to  Grenoble.  There  he 
126 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

accused  me  of  having  attempted  to  assassinate  him; 
and  he  presented  a  petition  to  the  parliament  and, 
without  any  other  evidence,  obtained  an  order  of 
arrest  against  me.  But  I  had  relatives  and  friends 
in  the  parliament,  one  of  whom,  M.  de  Calignon,  a 
counsellor,  sent  at  once  to  tell  me  what  had  been 
done,  and  informed  me  that  a  bailiff,  with  whom  he 
had  made  it  all  right,  would  come  to  serve  the  order 
on  me  at  a  time  which  he  stated.  So  I  sent  two  or 
three  men  to  waylay  the  bailiff  some  leagues  from 
Vaubonnez  and  forcibly  take  from  him  the  paper 
which  he  was  bringing.  Our  design  was  to  gain 
time  till  I  could  inform  the  judges  of  the  truth  of 
the  affair.  As  the  bailiff  had  an  understanding 
with  us,  he,  as  soon  as  our  men  met  him,  gave  up  the 
warrant,  proclaiming  that  violence  was  offered  to 
him,  and  he  drew  up  such  a  report  as  to  help  on  our 
game;  which  delayed  matters. 

Sieur  Richard  made  a  great  outcry  over  this, 
saying  that  I  had  committed  an  outrage  against 
the  parliament.  The  governor  of  the  province,  M. 
de  Lesdiguieres  wrote  me  to  say  that  it  was  reported 
that  I  had  committed  such  violent  deeds  that  every- 
body was  complaining  about  it,  and  that  if  I  kept 
on,  he  should  be  obliged  to  use  his  power  as  governor 
127 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

against  me.  But  I  wrote  him  giving  him  the  facts 
and  he  answered  me  that  he  was  glad  to  know  the 
truth  of  the  affair  and  that  it  only  increased  the 
esteem  in  which  he  had  always  held  my  conduct. 

But  I  saw  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  proceed- 
ings against  Sieur  Richard,  and,  having  learned  of 
many  extortions  which  he  had  committed  in  the 
region,  I  brought  forward  all  those  who  had  any 
cause  of  complaint,  and  having  taken  their  state- 
ments in  a  legal  way  presented  them  to  the  par- 
liament. 

M.  de  Calignon,  with  Madame  de  Poligny  and 
some  other  friends  of  mine,  worked  powerfully  for 
me  and  soon  brought  the  matter  in  a  condition  to 
be  decided.  Then  the  poor  miserable  fellow  seeing 
that  he  had  no  more  hope  of  escaping  by  all  his 
artifices  from  the  judgment  which  was  going  to  be 
given  against  him,  and  seeing  nothing  before  him 
but  the  gibbet  for  his  crimes,  concluded  that  the 
best  thing  for  him  to  do  was  to  come  and  throw 
himself  at  my  feet  and  submit  himself  in  advance 
to  everything,  provided  I  would  save  his  life. 

At  first,  as  I  was  extremely  angry  because  of  the 
perfidy  with  which  he  had  already  broken  the  word 
he  had  given  me,  and  the  extraordinary  insolence 
128 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

with  which  he  had  acted  afterwards,  I  could  not 
bring  myself  to  listen  to  any  settlement;  and  I 
thought  that,  for  the  love  of  justice  and  the  peace 
of  the  country-side,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
have  him  hung.  But  his  continual  importunities, 
added  to  the  extremity  to  which  I  saw  he  was 
reduced,  giving  me  at  last  some  ground  for  a  hope 
for  better  conduct  from  him  in  the  future,  induced 
me  to  take  gentle  means  and  show  mercy  to  him. 
And  so  I  told  him  that,  though  he  had  lost  his  honor 
by  breaking  the  promise  he  had  given  me  when  he 
made  the  same  request  of  me  at  Paris,  I  would 
nevertheless  grant  him  what  he  did  not  deserve; 
but  he  must  first  determine  upon  three  things, — he 
must  entirely  quit  the  country,  his  lands  must  be 
sold  and  the  money  arising  from  the  sale  must  pay 
the  expense  of  legal  proceedings. 

Richard,  who  saw  that  it  was  better  for  him  to 
save  his  life  with  the  loss  of  his  property  than  to  be 
hung  with  his  purse  hanging  at  his  neck,  said  he  was 
willing  to  do  all,  provided  his  life  was  saved.  So 
this  miserable  affair  was  terminated.  His  lands 
were  sold.  Part  of  the  money  paid  the  expenses. 
He  asked  pardon  of  Madame  de  Poligny  and  left 
the  country,  where  he  was  never  seen  afterwards. 
129 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

Doubtless,  it  was  God  who  gave  me  prudence, 
firmness  and  perseverance  to  push  this  miserable 
fellow  to  the  wall  and  break  down  his  insolence. 
Pride,  rage  and  despair,  joined  to  his  activity  and 
cunning,  made  him  capable  of  every  excess.  And 
it  was  an  extraordinary  exercise  of  God's  justice, 
that,  being  as  proud  and  as  cruel  as  he  was,  he  saw 
himself  at  last  forced  to  bend  and  submit  himself  to 
the  will  of  the  man  whom  he  wanted  to  destroy  and 
hated  with  all  his  heart. 


130 


THE  COURAGEOUS  PREACHER 

FATHER    GONTIER,    a    Jesuit    priest, 
preached  one  day  at  the  church  of  St. 
Gervais.    King  Henry  IV,  the  Marchioness 
de  Venmeil,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
ladies  of  the  court  were  present  at  the  sermon.    The 
ladies   usually   placed   themselves  near  the  pulpit, 
because  there  was  where  the  King  generally  seated 
himself.     Besides  the  noise  of  their  whispering,  the 
marchioness  especially  made  signs  to  the  King,   to 
make  him  laugh.     Father  Gontier  stopped  in  the 
middle  of  his  sermon  and  turning  to  the  King, — 
"Sire,"  said  he,  "will  you  never  weary  of  coming 
with  a  seraglio  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  making 
so  great  a  scandal  in  a  holy  place?  " 

All  the  ladies,  and  the  marchioness  especially,  did 
all  in  their  power  to  induce  the  King  to  make  an 
example  of  the  indiscreet  preacher.  The  King 
listened  to  them  but  did  nothing. 

The  next  day,  he  went  to  hear  the  preacher  again, 
and  met  him  as  he  was  going  to  the  pulpit.     Instead 
131 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

of  complaining  at  what  the  preacher  had  said  the 
day  before,  the  King  assured  him  that  he  had  nothing 
to  fear,  and  thanked  him  for  his  admonishing,  but 
at  the  same  time  he  asked  him  not  again  to  doit 
publicly. 


132 


HENRY  IV  AND  THE  ATTORNEYS 

IN  this  month   (November,  1602),  there  was 
told  in  Paris  a  story  about  the  King  (Henry  IV) 
which  was  pleasant  and  worthy  of  remark. 
The  Seigneur  de  Vitry,  who  knew  about  the 
matter,  told  it  as  true  to  one  of  my  friends.     It  was 
as  follows: 

The  King  who  was  hunting  in  the  direction  of 
Grosbois,  slipped  away  from  his  companions,  as  he 
often  does,  and  came  alone  to  Creteil  which  is  a 
league  beyond  the  Charenton  bridge.  He  got 
there  after  dinner  time,  hungry  as  a  hunter  (as  they 
say)  and  went  to  the  hostelry,  and,  having  found 
the  hostess,  asked  her  if  there  was  not  something 
for  a  dinner.  She  told  him  "No!"  and  that  he  had 
come  too  late.  But  he  saw,  as  she  spoke,  a  roast 
on  the  spit,  and  asked  for  whom  the  roast  was  cook- 
ing. She  told  him  it  was  for  some  men  who  were 
upstairs,  who,  as  she  thought,  were  attorneys. 

The  King  (whom  she  took  to  be  simply  a  gentle- 
man, because  he  was  alone)  asked  her  to  go  and  say 
133 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

to  them  that  there  was  an  honorable  gentleman  who 
had  just  arrived  and  was  tired  and  hungry;  and  that 
he  asked  them  to  give  him  a  piece  of  their  roast, 
which  he  would  pay  for,  or  would  they  let  him  sit 
at  the  end  of  their  table  and  he  would  pay  his  share. 
They  flatly  refused  his  request,  saying  that,  as  for 
their  roast,  there  was  none  too  much  for  themselves, 
and  as  to  his  dining  with  them  they  had  business 
with  each  other  and  were  very  glad  to  be  alone. 

The  King  having  heard  their  answer  asked  the 
hostess  for  a  boy  whom  he  could  send  to  a  place 
near  by  to  get  him  some  company;  and  having  given 
the  boy  a  piece  of  money,  sent  him  to  the  Seigneur 
de  Vitry,  who  lived  near,  giving  himself  another 
name,  and  sending  as  a  token  a  great  red  cap  which 
he  sometimes  wore,  and  told  the  boy  to  tell  him  to 
come  at  once  to  the  hostelry. 

The  boy  carried  the  message  and  de  Vitry,  per- 
ceiving that  it  came  from  the  King,  went  at  once, 
accompanied  by  eight  or  ten  others,  and  found  the 
King,  who  told  him  what  had  happened  and  the 
meanness  of  the  attorneys. 

The  King  told  him  to  go  at  once  and  seize  them 
and  take  them  to  Grosbois;  and  that,  when  he  had 
them  there,  he  should  have  them  well  whipped,  to 
184 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

teach  them  to  be  more  courteous  to  gentlemen 
another  time. 

And  this  the  Sieur  de  Vitry  did  very  promptly 
and  well,  in  spite  of  all  the  reasons,  prayers,  suppli- 
cations, remonstrances  and  contradictions  of  mes- 
sieurs, the  attorneys.* 

*  The  story  does  not  say,  but  it  may  well  be  understood 
that  the  King  satisfied  his  hunger  with  the  attorney's  roast. 


135 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  AMBASSADOR 

POPE  PAUL  V,  complaining  to  the  Venitian 
ambassador,  now  (1609)  resident  in  Rome, 
that  there  was  heretical  preaching  through- 
out the  city  and  the  seignory  of  Venice, 
the  ambassador  in  answer  said  that  the  seignory 
had  always  been  and  was  orthodox  and  Catholic, 
and  never  would  allow  anything  to  be  preached  in 
its  domains  but  the  Gospel  of  Christ.     The  Pope 
promptly    answered,    "Don't   you    know    that    to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  to  ruin  the  Catholic 
faith?" 


136 


A  TRIAL  WITH  A  SINGULAR  EPISODE 

CARDINAL  RICHELIEU  had  succeeded 
in  defeating  the  cabal  by  which  the  Queen 
had    planned     his     exclusion    from   the 
favor  of   King   Louis  XIII,  and   was  in 
fuller  power  than  before.     He  sent  to  the  Bastille 
the  Chevalier  de  Jars,  who  had  been  one  of  the 
Queen's  adherents.     It  was  winter  when  he  was 
imprisoned,  and  during  the  whole  of  the  period  of 
eleven  months  during  which  he  lay  in  the  dungeon 
in  which  he  was  placed,  he  had  only  the  velvet  suit 
to  wear  which  he  had  on  when  he  was  arrested. 

Eighty  times  during  the  eleven  months  de  Jars 
was  subjected  to  an  examination  as  severe  as  possible. 
But  he  answered  always  with  good  sense  and  firm- 
ness, without  being  tangled  on  any  subject  or  con- 
tradicting himself  in  his  answers,  or  saying  anything 
embarrassing  for  anyone.  At  the  end  of  the  eleven 
months  he  was  brought  out  to  be  taken  to  Troyes, 
being  dealt  with  as  harshly  as  a  man  would  be  who 
is  taken  out  to  his  death.  Passing  through  a  court, 
137 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

as  he  was  leaving  the  Bastille,  he  saw  on  a  balcony 
Marshal  de  Bassompierre  and  several  others,  who 
had  also  been  sent  to  the  Bastille,  on  the  same 
grounds  as  he,  but  who  had  been  treated  with  more 
humanity  than  he,  for  he  did  not  know  where  he 
was  going  or  what  was  going  to  happen  to  him. 
He  turned  to  them  and  shouted,  "Adieu!  I  do  not 
know  where  I  am  going.  But  you  may  be  sure, 
whatever  happens  to  me,  that  I  am  a  man  of  honor, 
and  that  I  shall  never  fail  my  friends  or  myself. " 

At  Troyes,  Laffemas,  who  was  called  the  cardinal 's 
executioner,  and  who  had  already  been  the  tormenter 
of  de  Jars  in  the  Bastille,  was  appointed  to  be  his 
judge ;  and  there  were  joined  with  Laffemas  a  sufficient 
number  of  men  who  were  no  more  honest  than  he, 
to  take  and  carry  on  the  proceeding.  Laffemas 
worked  at  the  case  in  all  the  ways  which  are  known 
to  that  kind  of  men,  and  he  was  well  seconded  by 
the  others.  They  tried  to  buy  false  witnesses 
against  de  Jars;  but  de  L'lle,  the  provost,  who  had 
accompained  him  from  Paris  to  Troyes,  and  whom 
they  wanted  to  have  say  that  on  the  way  he  had 
discoursed  against  the  state,  would  not  take  part 
in  their  malice  and  absolutely  refused  to  say  so. 
138 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

Laffemas  knew  what  was  secretly  in  the  cardinal's 
mind,  which  was  not  to  have  the  chevalier  put  to 
death,  for  he  knew  he  was  innocent  and  there  was 
no  reasonable  ground  to  condemn  him;  but  he  hoped, 
by  fear,  by  suffering  and  the  apparent  certainty  of 
death,  to  get  from  him  the  secrets  of  the  intrigue  of 
the  Queen,  Madame  de  Chevreuse,  and  the  keeper 
of  the  seals,  Chateauneuf,  against  himself.  Laffemas 
had  promised  the  minister  that  he  would  torment 
de  Jars  so  that  he  would  get  out  of  him  about  all 
the  cardinal  wanted  to  know;  and  that  on  a  small 
foundation  of  evil  he  would  find  means  to  carry  on 
the  proceeding  against  him,  in  accordance  with  the 
ways  of  the  cardinal  who,  as  I  have  heard  his  friends 
relate,  used  to  say  that  with  two  lines  of  a  man's 
handwriting,  though  he  was  innocent,  a  proceeding 
against  him  could  be  successfully  carried  through, 
because  the  matters  could  be  so  fixed  about  that  as 
a  foundation,  that  whatever  was  wanted  could  be 
found.  In  that  way  Laffemas  carried  on  the  pro- 
ceeding against  de  Jars.  He  threatened  him,  he 
interrogated  him,  and  did  everything  that  a  base 
soul  is  capable  of  doing. 

One  day,  which  was  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  this. 
139 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

wicked  judge,  wishing  to  show  the  innocent  criminal 
that  he  had  some  kind  feeling  for  him,  allowed  him 
to  attend  mass.  He  was  brought  by  a  band  of  archers 
and  under  a  good  guard  to  the  church  of  the  Jacobins. 
While  there,  he  saw  Laffemas  and  his  wife  come 
forward  to  take  the  communion  at  the  high  altar; 
and  he,  fearing  nothing  and  always  intent  on  his 
own  affairs,  when  he  saw  that  that  man  had  re- 
ceived the  holy  Sacrament,  all  at  once  escaped  from 
his  guards  and  rushed  at  Laffemas  and  caught  him 
by  the  throat,  saying  that,  as  he  had  between  his 
lips  his  God  and  his  living  Creator,  it  was  time  for 
him  to  tell  the  truth  and  justify  him  (de  Jars)  before 
God  and  men,  and  to  declare  that  he  was  innocent 
and  that  it  was  an  injustice  to  persecute  him; 
adding  that,  as  Laffemas  was  making  a  show  of 
being  a  Christian,  he  ought  at  once  to  surrender  to 
the  truth;  that  he  was  a  scoundrel  and  he  therefore 
refused  to  have  him  for  his  judge;  he  called  on 
the  bystanders  to  witness  that  he  refused  him. 

The  people  gathered  around  them  at  the  noise, 
and  all  began  to  murmur  against  the  unjust  judge. 
De  L'He,  the  provost,  who  was  one  of  them,  tried  to 
separate  the  two,  but  de  Jars  would  not  quit  the 
man,  insisting  upon  an  answer.  Laffemas  at  last 
140 


Stones  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

answered  coldly,  "Sir,  do  not  complain!  I  assure 
you  that  the  cardinal  loves  you."  De  Jars  insisted 
that  he  should  answer  on  the  point  of  his  innocence; 
and  at  last  Laffemas  said  he  (de  Jars)  would  get  off 
with  being  sent  to  Italy,  but  he  would  like  to  show 
him  some  small  letters  written  by  him,  which  would 
show  that  he  was  more  guilty  than  he  pretended. 
The  chevalier  did  not  understand  a  word  of  what 
Laffemas  had  said,  but  in  utter  astonishment  let 
go  of  him  and  was  taken  back  to  his  prison.  He 
saw  that  the  proceeding  against  him  was  being 
actively  pressed  and  considered  himself  as  good  as 
dead;  but  he  determined  to  maintain  his  courage 
and  do  what  an  honorable  man  ought  to  do.  He 
was  brought  again  before  the  tribunal,  where  he 
boldly  refused  to  accept  Laffemas  as  his  judge, 
charged  him  with  all  his  baseness,  called  him  a 
scoundrel  a  second  time,  and  told  the  other  judges 
what  promise  Laffemas  had  given  the  cardinal 
against  him.  He  was  interrogated  all  over  again 
for  three  hours,  but  he  defended  himself  so  courage- 
ously that  those,  who  had  wanted  to  destroy  him 
and  planned  at  least  to  make  him  betray  his  friends, 
were  confounded.  When  he  was  being  taken  away, 
de  L'lle,  the  provost,  came  to  him  and  said, "  Be  of 
141 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

good  courage,  sir,  I  have  good  hope  for  you,  for 
they  have  ordered  me  to  take  you  back  to  the  same 
prison;  and  it  is  usual  to  take  those,  whom  they  are 
going  to  condemn  to  death,  to  another  place. "  The 
chevalier  answered  him  in  the  same  tone  in  which 
he  used  to  speak  as  to  things  which  he  did  not  agree 
with,  "  My  friend !  those  gallows  birds  are  going  to 
condemn  me.  I  see  that  by  their  looks.  I  must 
have  patience,  and  the  cardinal  will  be  in  a  rage  to 
see  that  I  laugh  at  him  and  his  tortures."  As  soon 
as  he  had  left  the  room,  Laffemas  showed  the  other 
judges  a  letter  from  the  cardinal,  or  rather  from  the 
King  which  said,  "If  he  is  condemned  to  a  small 
punishment  show  him  the  sentence,  but  do  not  give 
it  to  him.  If  he  is  condemned  to  death,  suspend 
the  execution."  The  judges  condemned  him  to 
death,  and  he  was  brought  to  the  scaffold.  He  showed 
himself  there  to  be  a  man  of  courage  and  honor. 
He  sneered  at  his  judges  and  his  enemies,  and  met 
the  approach  of  death  with  great  firmness.  As 
the  executioner  was  ready  to  strike  the  beheading 
blow,  his  pardon  was  brought  to  him.  He  said 
afterwards  that  his  suffering  was  great,  but  that  God 
had  shown  him  great  favor  and  that  he  had  recog- 
nized by  experience  that  God  had  a  care  for  his 
142 


Stories  from  Old  French  Chronicles 

creatures.  And  after  the  death  of  Cardinal  Riche- 
lieu he  said  he  owed  his  life  to  the  cardinal,  for  if 
the  cardinal  had  wished  it,  the  judges  would  have 
put  him  to  death. 


143 


42074 


ur.^UTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACjLt 


llll ll       *••*  .      j  ~7^         A 


